If you smelled the food or heard the tractor pull you knew that last week the Ashland County Fair was up and running, giving the community a fun atmosphere to spend their days.

With delicious lemonade, funnel cakes and too many events to count, county fairs always have a lot to offer. But, after talking with local fair attendees it became obvious that those reasons were not all that was important to them.

Molly Moffett, 11, has been showing her animals in the Ashland County fair with 4-H Club for four years. 

She commented as she patted her cow on the back, “It’s been a long four years, but fun. I like the time to enjoy with my animals and the time to bond with them.” While at the fair, she shows as well as informs interested people about her animals, all while having a giant smile on her face. 

The county looks forward to hosting the fair each year and giving the youth a place to showcase their efforts.

Ashland City Schools support the youth that are involved in 4-H Club by giving them an excused week off of school to focus on their animals and their fair activities.

This year a teacher-in-service day was planned on the Friday of fair week, giving the students who are not involved the opportunity to go and support their family and friends.

“It’s good to see your friends work all hard for their animals and actually get first place,” said Kolin Bowersock, an Ashland City student.

The week of the fair, the grounds are constantly swarmed with familiar faces ready to welcome you with a warm hello.

Many people, like Ashland County resident Holly Taylor, look forward to attending the fair each year for that very reason.

“It’s just fun to see a lot of people that we know, that we don’t get to see very often,” Taylor said. 

As everyday life consumes the average person’s days, there seemed to be a similar consensus between attendees that it’s nice to get a break to see friends and reminisce.

As the 2013 Ashland County Fair has now come to an end, children will begin to groom their animals once again, old friends have now said goodbye for yet another year and the fair board members will meet again in hopes of planning yet another successful Ashland County Fair.