Tusky Days Festival needs new committee members for event to continue

The 2025 Tusky Days Festival could be the last one unless more volunteers are found for the committee. The assignment to host a festival to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the village of Tuscarawas was only supposed to be a one-year commitment. With the success of the festival, committee members stayed on and have planned the festival for more than a decade.

Matt Ritenour, Tusky Days Festival president, gave a report at the Nov. 7 village council meeting at Tuscarawas, saying a majority of the board will step down after the 2025 festival. The move would leave only two committee members.

“After the 2026 festival, I want to step down as president, but I’ll still want to be involved with the festival,” Ritenour said. “I’ll do whatever I can do, but I don’t want to take on the whole festival. It’s a lot of work. You’ve got to get people who want to do it. We’ve worked a lot of years to keep this thing up and running, and I don’t want to see it die.”

Job titles among the group’s members do not limit the number of tasks they have taken on in the past. Most are wearing multiple hats.

“There’s a lot of work that’s done behind the scenes, and nobody knows,” Ritenour said.

One volunteer who is in charge of media and posting to Facebook also is responsible for getting banners made and other tasks.

One task has gotten much harder since Ohio passed stricter laws governing rides.

“Trying to find a ride company is my nightmare. It used to be really easy. They would beg us to come here. Now they’ve all left the state of Ohio,” Ritenour said.

The sponsors are still on board with the festival.

“We’ve got great sponsors. I’ve talked to several of them this week directly. I called them and told them what was going on and the direction that we are going to go in the next couple years,” Ritenour said. “They all understand, and they all support this festival.”

The festival is a popular event.

“We’ve got great people in this town. They enjoy the festival. They look forward to it,” Ritenour said.

The bands that have played at the festival say the crowds are great and they enjoy the event and want to play here.

“I wanted to get that out to the council, the direction we’re going,” Ritenour said. “Anybody who is interested, please call me. I’m ready to turn the reins over here in the next year.”

Volunteers do not have to live in the village of Tuscarawas to join the committee. It might be a good fit for an organization to take over the planning of the festival.

Mayor Dana Moore spoke to the committee members in attendance.

“I’ve never seen people more dedicated to an event than this committee has been in all the years with this festival,” Moore said. “And as far as I’m concerned, the Tusky Days Festival is the best festival in Tuscarawas County. There is no question about it.”

The festival serves a role in the community to bring people together.

“You put people together for a three-day period, and they reacquaint themselves. Maybe some of them haven’t seen each other, even though they live in town, for 10 or 15 years, but that festival puts them together,” Moore said.

Last week Moore talked with two former Tuscarawas residents who now live in Florida.

“They come back here every year for the festival — fly out, fly here, fly home. The expense that is involved in all that, just to come back to this festival and sit around and drink a few beers with their old friends, is just amazing,” Moore said.

Another positive is the festival attracts families and people of all ages.

Moore knows the commitment it takes to continue the festival.

“I applaud all of you for what you’ve done to this point. And it sounds as though there’s no sense in me trying to persuade you to do anything differently, but I would like to encourage you to stay on just to do the little stuff like 50/50 tickets and that kind of stuff,” Moore said.

Call Ritenour at 330-447-6013.