As the 2016 edition of the Highland County Fair draws to a close, our community has once again had the opportunity to celebrate the achievements of county residents, especially our young people.
While there are various champions, ribbon winners and trophy recipients from this year’s fair, the fact remains that everyone who participates in the fair is a winner. Whether raising livestock, rabbits or poultry, or sharing gifts in photography, fine arts, gardening or farming, the fair provides a stage that reminds us of the talent that exists in our community, and the dedication and discipline required to bring a project to fruition.
As always, our fair coverage is a combination of staff efforts and contributions from those directly involved with the fair. Our annual Fair Memories special section will be published Sept. 23 in The Times-Gazette and Sept. 25 in the Highland County Shopper/Community Guide. Between now and then, we remind those in charge of 4-H programs, fine arts, photography, vegetables and fruit, farm products, culinary arts and any and all other contests to provide their results to us as quickly as possible for inclusion in Fair Memories or in The Times-Gazette. Results can be mailed or dropped off to us at 108 Gov. Trimble Place, or emailed to [email protected].
We especially appreciate those who have graciously augmented the photography of our staff by supplying or granting permission to use additional pictures throughout the week. Special thanks to Theresa Luschek, Halee Allen, Miriam Rowley and Emmy Lee Jenkins for their help in making sure we had, or will have, the photographs and information we needed.
For the past couple of years, the Highland County Junior Fair Sale Committee, especially Theresa Luschek, has done an outstanding job of posting pictures and buyer information on its Facebook page shortly after each sale closes. This expediency has in most cases allowed us to provide pictures of champions and information about buyers in the following day’s newspaper. Those we can’t quite squeeze in by deadline generally appear the next day. Pictures have also been posted as quickly as possible on our website, timesgazette.com.
In this digital age, people are able to post and share pictures from the fair on a variety of platforms, especially Facebook. But we know that for many, there’s still something special about having those pictures of proud winners published in the newspaper. It’s a time-honored tradition we are happy to support. Friday’s edition alone of The Times-Gazette featured 25 photographs from the fair, more than half of them provided from photographers outside our staff.
A pat on the back is also earned by the senior fair board, which takes its share of criticism each year, but which overall pulls off an amazing accomplishment. Attending the Highland County Fair remains a relative bargain, compared to many other fairs around Ohio, and the fair board deserves credit for that.
The $10 daily admission price includes rides, unlike at some fairs, and the free parking provided on the fairgrounds is in contrast to many fairs, including some in southern Ohio, which charge anywhere from $5 to $10 to park on the fairgrounds, in addition to the admission price.
Congratulations to everyone involved on another successful fair. On behalf of our staff, thank you to everyone who helped us cover it, and watch for our Fair Memories section later this month.
Reach Gary Abernathy at 937-393-3456 or on Twitter @abernathygary.
