Everyone will agree that the year 2020 has been nothing less than challenging in our daily lives, work lives, school, you name it. We want to get life back to normal, and the Richwood Fair Board is hoping to do just that.
The board has voted to hold the annual independent fair, set for Wednesday, Sept. 2 through Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 7. The general idea is to continue to host a Junior and Senior Fair, with a few adjustments.
All guidelines set by the State and Union County Health Departments, are updated almost daily. It makes it challenging for the board to make definite arrangements for the vendors, campers, ride company, but they are determined to do the best that they can to give back to the community.
“We are following the Camp Ohio Guidelines,” stated Cody Johnston, fair board vice president.
Johnston also said that with several other fairs that have canceled this year, making other ride companies available, so the board is hoping to have more opportunities of rides for the children. They have plenty of land to set the rides and meet social distancing standards.
Grandstand entertainment at the moment has some certain guidelines to follow. The board can only use 50 percent of the available space for onlookers, so as of now, they are limited to 700 people in the stands. A free wristband will be given to each person sitting in the stands until they reach the limit. But by July, the guidelines may change, allowing them to seat more. Hopefully in a few weeks, the board will be able to announce the Wednesday, Sept. 2 concert information. The rest of the week includes the Rough Truck Contest on Thursday, and the annual Demolition Derby, Friday, will crash onto the scene. No Tractor Pull will be held this year during the fair due to it not being financially feasible.
A new event this year will be harness racing under the lights Saturday evening and again on Sunday afternoon. The popular Non-Livestock Auction will take place with the renowned Johnny Regula as the auctioneer.
Sunday will be the antique parade, followed by the fun hay-stacking contest in the grandstands. The six-day fair will conclude hosting the livestock auction Monday morning.
There will be a junior and senior fair this year, but with a few changes. In the Fine Arts building, there will be an antique display, but there will not be a live judging. It will be done on site when the building is closed.
Hand-sanitizing stations will be visible throughout the fair grounds for sanitary safety and the board will take every precaution to follow the guidelines.
Sponsorship deadline has been extended to July 1. Many businesses and individuals have been holding off sponsoring the event until they know that the fair will take place. The fair board knows that the community is their biggest supporters and they want to be able to give back to them, so they are taking a chance on holding their 128th Annual Independent Fair.