MEDINA, Ohio — After missing out on the 2020 county fair season, both vendors and fair officials are excited to be back on the fairgrounds.
“I’m technically third generation in the carnival business,” Jeff Otterbacher said standing amid the flashing lights of his family’s corn dog truck.
For him, fairs and carnivals aren’t just tradition, they’re the family business.
“My grandfather, Rupert, got the family into the business,” Otterbacher said. “All of his children got into the business and then almost each grandchild from the original family is in the business.”
Growing up, Jeff spent each summer on one of his family’s carts selling classic fair foods.
“I might have been like 7 or 8 with my own drink stand,” he said.
But, he said, one fair was more special than all the rest.
“The Medina County Fair is my home. It’s my home fair,” he said. “I had 4-H projects there, I ran around with my 4-H friends, with my friends from school and then I ran around with my family as well.”
In 2020, the pandemic shut fairs down, reducing many to 4-H shows for the local kids to present.
“It was the first summer in my entire life,” said Otterbacher. “They have been just a huge part of my life forever and they were kind of gone, and so that was kinda weird. For people that come for the fair, that come for the entertainment that was all missed.”
But it wasn’t just the tradition that was missed last year.
“Overall, we probably lost 75% of our income,” he said.
Representatives from the Medina County Fair said they lost $800,000.
So this year, both the Otterbachers and the fair as a whole are looking to make up for lost money and lost time.
The 176th Medina County Fair is Aug. 2-8.
