Five-stars in class (rural/country fair, Americana, wholesome fun, heartland, historical).
I heard on WGTE that the Wood County Fair was holding its 143rd annual event. Quite an impressive record!
I'm always a sucker for county/state fairs, a big fan of the agricultural / gastronomical competitions (best rhubarb pie, stoutest steed, etc...).
The Wood County fair is situated West of town on Poe Road - those of you from the area don't need me to tell you how to get there. Those of you not from the area - well, go to the High School and then just keep driving west.
Ample (free) parking nearby and entirely reasonable entry fee ($6) with an abundance of truck-food options. I'm from Tallahassee (FL), and our annual state fair has about 1/2 of the food options than this - and is by all measures a bigger event.
My instinct is that this fair draws visitors from across the county AND surrounding counties. What I didn't notice was a substantial ferris wheel - but it's very likely to be found in fairs that frequent the larger population areas (e.g., Toledo) but I don't know.
We came on a Wednesday evening - arguably the least busy time of the week - and stumbled on the KOI drag racing events. We stayed for the warm-ups and I was impressed with how many folks were in the stands.
Turns out that we didn't really stay for any of the rides per se, but my two oldest packed away a Philly Cheese Steak & fries, along with waters while watching the warm-ups. Good fun.
Fans of midwestern rural county fairs will thoroughly enjoy Wood County's shin-dig! read more