GREENVILLE — After a week of rain, long days and countless behind-the-scenes challenges, the gates were open and the sun was shining Friday morning as the 170th Great Darke County Fair officially got underway.
The Darke County Chamber of Commerce and Darke County Agricultural Society hosted an 8 a.m. ribbon-cutting ceremony Aug. 21, marking the beginning of nine days and nights of one of Darke County’s biggest traditions.
For Fair Board President Marla Werner and the board members and volunteers who spent the days leading up to the fair battling wet grounds and working long hours, simply reaching opening morning was something to celebrate.
“We made it, thank goodness,” Werner said. “And we did do a lot of praying for it not to rain.”
The ceremony came under sunny skies — a welcome change after steady rain created difficult conditions across the fairgrounds and complicated preparations, including moving campers and vendors into place.
Greenville Mayor Jeff Whitaker welcomed the change in weather and the crowd already gathering on the grounds.
“What a beautiful day,” Whitaker said. “It looks like we have a very good forecast in the mix, too. This morning is just totally beautiful, and what a great turnout already.”
Whitaker said the fair’s reach extends well beyond Greenville.
“You see people mingling around, and it’s a great community event,” he said. “It’s not just Greenville. Darke County is a big community, and people from all surrounding counties, from all over the state, and beyond come to the Great Darke County Fair. It’s a blessing to have it right here in Greenville.”
Darke County Board of Commissioners President Matt Aultman noted the significance of a county tradition reaching its 170th year.
“It’s great to have the Darke County Fair start,” Aultman said. “One hundred seventy years is pretty amazing, to have this continue to grow. We can’t wait to see what all the youth have to show, the events, and pray that the rain holds off through the nine days of the fair between now and next Saturday.”
While visitors arriving Friday morning saw a fairgrounds ready for them, Werner said that was exactly what the board wanted — even if getting there had been anything but easy.
Werner arrived especially early on Friday to take care of a few final details before the ribbon-cutting.
“I realized that we made it,” she said. “The goal was that nobody knew behind the scenes what it took to put this together, because we’re ready for you.”
Werner praised the entire Fair Board for pulling together during the difficult week and singled out 20-year-old Vice President Jayden Hicks and longtime board member and former president Dean Neff for their efforts.
“Jayden is awesome,” Werner said. “Jayden is always here. I’m not sure when he sleeps. I’m not sure who does his laundry — probably his mom because he’s always got clean clothes on — but he’s always here for, ‘What do we need to do?’”
Board members use a group text to communicate and keep track of jobs that need to be completed, Werner said, and Hicks has consistently been someone the board can depend on.
“I asked him this morning, ‘Did you get this done?’ He’s like, ‘Done,’” Werner said. “And I said, ‘Thank you. You’re awesome.’”
Neff’s contribution during the rain-soaked days leading up to the opening was equally important.
Werner said Neff spent four straight days operating a telehandler, working 12 to 16 hours a day to help place campers, assist vendors and solve problems throughout the fairgrounds.
“We just can’t do it without them,” Werner said.
What impressed Werner most was Neff’s willingness to keep moving from one problem to another without complaining.
“He never said, ‘When’s it going to stop?’ Never,” Werner said. “He just looked for solutions.”
If Neff encountered a hole that needed to be filled, Werner said, he found someone who could bring in material. If he saw someone stuck, he stopped what he was doing to help, even if he had been headed somewhere else.
“He just went wherever he needed to go,” Werner said.
That willingness to pitch in was repeated throughout the fairgrounds as board members and volunteers worked to overcome conditions that had just days earlier threatened to make final preparations extremely difficult.
Werner acknowledged there were some projects the board wasn’t able to complete before opening morning, but said they were things most fairgoers would never notice and work would continue.
The bigger accomplishment was having the grounds ready when visitors began arriving Friday.
For Werner, the effort demonstrated something the public may not always see — how much hands-on work goes into putting on the Great Darke County Fair and how much of it is done by people who aren’t receiving a paycheck for their time.
“People that just come out here and see this have no clue what it takes to do this,” Werner said. “The hands-on work that the board does with no pay — they do it from the heart.”
With the difficult preparation week behind them, Werner’s message Friday morning was much simpler.
“Come on in, see what we’ve got,” she said. “We have new things.”
The 170th Great Darke County Fair continues for nine days and nights, with livestock and youth competitions, activities throughout the grounds and entertainment in front of the grandstand.
After days spent worrying about rain, mud, campers, vendors and preparations, opening morning brought the sight Fair Board members had been working toward all week: visitors coming through the gates and another Great Darke County Fair underway.
