The Allen County fair board has been making claims the fair is all about the “youngsters and their projects.” What they seem to be leaving out is the fact that each year the horse kids are getting less arena time.
Whenever the fairgrounds hosts an event, the arena gets closed to the 4-H kids who use it weekly. The fair board booted 4-H clubs out for the whole month of July, a month before this year’s fair, just so they could have the Miss Loud-N-Lima “pageant” and other events in the arena. Most kids in the area depend on that arena to work and bond with their animal, which is what the livestock program used to be about.
The fairgrounds charges the various horse groups $500 to have a fun show, which is a mini practice of what we would be doing at fair, for one night, adding an additional $250 per day.
Between having the PBR, 4-Wheel Jamboree and motorcycle races, along with Loud in Lima and camping on the fairgrounds during the off season of the fair, kids are the ones losing out on an experience we can’t get again once we get too old for the 4-H program.
This is not meant to bash the fair board, as they do a great job with the fair every year, but it is meant to shine a light on an issue that has been swept under the rug for the past few years.
Sincerely, a 17-year-old 4-Her who has a back-bone and a big mouth.
Ciera Clevenger, Harrod
