Wayne County Fair recognizes volunteers for decades of service

When auctioneer Bob Graber donates his services to the Wayne County Junior Fair Livestock Sale, he is giving back and paying forward.

“I was a kid at one time, and these programs helped shape me and made me what I am,” he said after receiving a Wayne County Senior Fair Board Outstanding Volunteer Service Award at the board’s annual volunteer recognition banquet.

Graber, who has been auctioneering at the junior fair sale for 38 years, was one of three volunteers honored for longtime service to the fair.

A former Orrville High School FFA member who showed steers at the fair, Graber also served as junior fair board president and was junior fair king in 1984. He was the first recipient of the Doyle Finley Award, honoring an outstanding junior fair exhibitor.

Graber acknowledged all the volunteers gathered in the Fair Event Center, saying their service makes it possible for young people to discover their talents, skills and career aspirations through their involvement in the fair.

“Our kids need us now more than ever,” he said. “Keep doing it for our kids in Wayne County.”

Outstanding Volunteer Service Awards also went to the following:

—Attorney William Anfang III for serving as the fair board’s legal and tax accounting adviser for 34 years. Anfang assisted the fair board through property purchases, building construction, the incorporation process, securing a 501(c) tax-exempt status for a nonprofit organization and understanding regulations dealing with people with disabilities.

“We appreciate his intuitiveness and keeping us on top of things,” fair board member Tom Stocksdale said during the presentation. “He was always there for us, and he never charged us.”

—William “Bill” Arnold for 71 years of service to many fair-related areas, most recently overseeing the Grange exhibits. An active Grange member from an early age, Arnold helped serve in the former Grange Dining Hall at the fair from 1959-65 and 1980 until the dining hall closed in 2007. He has been superintendent of the fair’s Grange display for the past 10 years and supports the junior fair bake auction.

An FFA member, he showed sheep and still projects at the fair and was a junior leader. According to this nomination letter, “He lives by the 4-H motto, ‘To Make the Best Better.’”

In his remarks to volunteers, Wayne County Fair manager Jarrod Snell spoke about how the fair shapes and celebrates the community’s rich history and paints a picture of the future.

“It’s a place where tradition and innovation shake hands,” he said, with youth exhibiting prize-winning animals and displaying 4-H projects.

He called the fair "a living museum of our agricultural roots, reminding us of where our food comes from and the hard work that goes into it.”

It's a nostalgic trip back in time, he said, “and also a place where we see the next generation of farmers, artists and innovators. We’re celebrating and supporting young people who will one day lead us.”