Fire at hunt club forces cancellation of annual festival

ELLSWORTH

A 100-year old hunt club is working through the paperwork to rebuild after a fire destroyed one of its clubhouses last month.

Because of the fire, the Mahoning County Coon Hunters Protective Association, based at 9680 Akron-Canfield Road, had to cancel its annual Fall Festival. The non-profit group’s biggest fundraiser of the year was going to celebrate its 100-year anniversary.

“It just got to the point where it would be too confusing, and maybe by then we might have some construction going on,” club president John Jakubec said of canceling the festival.

The members voted to cancel it at their July 1 meeting. Group members are now trying to let festival attendees and vendors know the event is off for this year.

Todd Schuller, acting secretary of the club, explained that the festival is the weekend after Labor Day every year and there is a row of more than 300 vendors along with a row for campers, with country music every night and thousands attending the event. He said the vendors would “sell everything from handmade crafts to things specifically for dogs ... you name it, its there for sale.”

Schuller said there were activities throughout the three-day festival, from kids being able to fish on the lake at the club’s facility to dog races.

Jakubec said most vendors elected to reserve their spot for the 2015 Fall Festival instead of wanting their money back for this year’s canceled event.

Read more about the event and the club in Thursday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.