Food, rides, animals, shows await visitors

More than 400 animals will be at the fair this week.
By AMANDA GARRETT
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
BAZETTA -- Animals were being led to their stalls, and vendors were setting out their wares Monday morning on the first full day of the 160th Annual Trumbull County Fair.
Making sure everything was running smoothly was Fair Board President Richard Roscoe, who was making the rounds in his golf cart.
An average of 100,000 people and 400 animals pass through the gates at the Bazetta fairgrounds, Roscoe said.
"The state fair board officials have told me we are one of the top three most profitable fairs in the state," he said.
Heavy rain Monday afternoon dampened the preparations; rain during county fair week is a fairly regular happening.
Roscoe noted that he works about 18 hours a day during fair week.
"Sunday night I got home about 1 a.m.," he said. "I got up around 6 in the morning, took a shower and came back here."
The week before the fair is especially challenging, Roscoe said.
"You have to make sure everything is up and running on time," he said. "People always want to do things they're not allowed to, so you have to work with them on that."
During fair week, Roscoe tools around the grounds on his golf cart, frequently stopping to sample some of the culinary highlights.
"I love fair food," he said. "Hot sausage sandwiches and french fries with salt -- and lots of vinegar."
Roscoe, a native of Gustavus, has worked with the fair for more than 30 years.
Roscoe, who runs Roscoe Bros. fertilizer company with his brother and two sons, was president during the 1980s. His latest tenure began six years ago after he retired from LTV Steel.
How event is planned
Planning for each year's fair begins in November when the county and state fair officials meet in Columbus, Roscoe said. At the conference, fair officials learn how to prevent hazards like an outbreak of E. coli bacteria, which has been a problem at other county fairs, Roscoe said.
Roscoe is also involved in the Antique Tractor Club of Trumbull County, whose members were busy lining up their brightly colored tractors for the 12th annual show at the fair.
The display includes more than 160 antique tractors from all over Northeast Ohio, said Don Murphy of Bazetta, who is chairman of the fair's display.
The display also includes an antique corn husker and hay baler.
It takes a special breed of person to be interested in restoring antique tractors, Murphy said.
"It takes a lot of time. You have to strip the tractor down to the metal and then repaint it," he said. "Most of our members use about four coats of paint, but some go as high as seven."
The tractors will be on display all week at the grove near the Historical Village.
Just a short walk from the antique tractor display, Monica Boorn was giving her calf, Tex, a bath.
It's important to keep the animals clean during fair week, so potential buyers will see the animals looking their best, said Boorn, a ninth-grader at Bristol High School.
Boorn is showing four cattle and two hogs at this year's fair. When she's not busy taking care of her animals, Boorn likes to visit the rides.
Boorn has been coming to the fair for eight years, and she plans to bring more animals back next year.
"I like being with the animals and raising them," she said. "The hard part is selling them. I get really attached to them."
agarrett@vindy.com