GREENVILLE—The Darke County Agricultural Society Board of Directors met on Wednesday evening to discuss horse barns, frozen water lines, the capital grant and more. Nine board members were present. Vice President Jim Zumbrink and Jason Manning were absent.
Tim Reck, Darke County Harness Horsemen’s Association President, informed the board that out of six barns, there are 42 stalls in need of repairs, 15 of which currently have horses in them.
“Some of them are minor repairs, some of them major,” Reck said. “There is 77 total stalls down there that have rubber mats down at the bottom. There’s only one of those 77 stalls that needs work, and it’s a hole that’s chewed in way above where the rubber mats are. If we put rubber mats down in the rest of the stalls, it’s going to cut down on repairs, because the mats will absorb the shock of the wood.”
Board member Brian Rismiller said he’d work with Reck to get quotes from Tractor Supply Co. for mats.
Next, Treasurer Marla Werner gave an update on the capital improvement grant focus committee.
She said while no decisions have been made yet, the group is meeting regularly.
“We are working with legal counsel, going through what we have, commitments, what we can do,” she said. “I wish I could say more but we have not made decisions yet. We have to bring new board members up to speed, and get them acclimated.”
She added that the focus committee is looking at a lot of different routes.
“This community has a lot of great ideas,” she said. “I’m sure what’s decided will not please everybody. We are going to try to do our best to please, and provide what we need for the most, and what works for everybody. We have a lot of pieces to look at.”
During Fair Manager Laura Ahren’s report, she informed the board that part of the fair’s main water line froze during the cold temperatures that Darke County experienced just before Christmas.
“We have two main water lines, on the north and south end,” she said. “One comes in behind the Moose lot, and the other one come in off of Martz St., and froze. Froze and broke. In what we call our hot box, we had a major water leak, and I mean, major.”
Ahrens added that Bill Sherry came in to take a look at the lines, along with the Greenville Water Dept., who shut off the water. They found that the whole unit is not busted, just part of it.
She said thankfully that saved them over $20,000.
“Sherry is going to finish repairing tomorrow,” she said. “He was able to find part of the big unit to fix. Him and Jason from the city water dept. both agreed that the unit is still in good working order, it’s just this part that needs replaced. He found it for about $1,100.”
Ahrens then announced the new dept. heads.
Ag Dept. (under coliseum) – Dean Neff, Heidi May helping
Band Spectacular – Jim Zumbrink
Beef Cattle – Jason Manning, Heidi May helping
Cheerleading contest – Marla Werner
Dairy Cattle – Jason Manning, Jim Zumbrink helping
Demo Derby – Curtis Yount, Craig Bowman helping
Dogs – Marla Werner, Dave Singer helping
Domestic Arts – Greg Pearson, Russ Skaggs helping
Horse, Mule, Donkey – Marla Werner, Craig Bowman helping
Fine Arts – Brian Rismiller, Jason Manning helping
Flower Dept. – Heidi May, Dean Neff helping
Friday Sampler – Russ Skaggs, Greg Pearson helping
Fundraising – Brian Rismiller
Gazebo – Marla Werner
Goats – Dave Singer, Russ Skaggs helping
Horse Pull – Marla Werner
Poultry – Dave Singer, Dean Neff helping
Rabbits – Heidi May, Marla Werner helping
Sheep – Jim Zumbrink, Russ Skaggs helping
Show Horse Ponies, Miniature Horses – Marla Werner, Russ Skaggs helping
Speed Dept. – Craig Bowman, Greg Pearson helping
Swine Dept. – Jason Manning, Curtis Yount helping
Motorcycles – Greg Pearson, Jim Zumbrink helping
The Darke County Fair Board meets the first Wednesday of every month at 7:30 p.m. at 800 Sweitzer St., Greenville, Ohio, 45331, in the meeting room across from the fair office. For more information, contact the fair office at 937-548-5044.
