The Delaware County Junior Fair Buyers Club is hoping to capitalize on the county’s rich tradition of supporting its youth and the Delaware County Fair. To that extent, members of the county fair’s Junior Fair Sale Committee have established a buyers club.
Although a relatively new concept to this county, other counties in the state already have similar groups which have been successful in helping support fair sales and young people, according to Cheryl Hagerty, chair of the local Junior Fair Sale Committee.
“What this does is allows people who can’t otherwise support the sale to support the youth of Delaware County,” she said. Each year, businesses and individuals open their pockets to buy hog, lamb, cattle, goat, rabbit, baked goods, dairy and poultry products at the Delaware Fair’s Junior Fair sales on Tuesday and Wednesday nights. Money from the auctions is used by the exhibitors to purchase animals for the following year’s fair, to help finance their education after graduating high school or fund necessary purchases.
Hagerty, a former 4-H club adviser and the mother of two young people who exhibited at the Delaware County Fair, said the buyers club will allow people who may not have the funds to purchase individual projects or those who may not be able to attend the sales to lend their support to exhibitors on sale nights.
Buyers club membership contributions also will be used to purchase animals at the sale that lack bidding support, according to a membership leaflet. The club’s objective is to “make sure all youth who participate in the fair are rewarded for their hard work and effort,” the leaflet states. Animals purchased through the club will be resold, maximizing the investment of the club members.
Hagerty said the buyers club also can take some of the pressure off bidders who support the sales each year and help the auctioneers. “If the auctioneer is having a problem getting a good bid, he can look over to the buyers club and get a bid,” she said.
Every 4-H club in the county and every FFA chapter will be asked to contribute to the buyers club. Memberships will be sold for as little as $25, but contributions of $100 or more will be accepted. Members of the buyers club will be acknowledged in pre- and post-sale advertisements and will receive a wall plaque.
The 2015 Junior Fair sales will be Tuesday, Sept. 22, and Wednesday, Sept. 23.
Forms are available at the OSU Extension Office, Delaware County, or the Delaware County Fair Office or any member of the sale committee. Donations should be mailed to Delaware County Junior Sale Committee, 140 N. Sandusky St., Delaware, OH 43015.
For more information, contact the OSU Extension Office, Delaware County, at 740-833-2030, Cheryl Hagerty at 614-595-1562, Brad Jolliff at 614-496-0889 or Doug Loudenslager at 740-363-1341, Ext. 101.
