Wayne County Fair Issue
Following the 2015 Wayne County Fair, a community-based initiative began to prohibit the display and sale of items that include the Confederate flag at the fair in the future. To date (6-12-2016), the Wayne County Fair Board has taken and maintained the position that they will not prohibit. While there has been no direct formal communication from the fair board regarding reasoning, they appear to be taking their direction from the Ohio Fair Managers Association, their out of town lawyer, and the vendors who sell such items, none of which seem to have the slightest interest in harmony in our community. In 2015, the Ohio State Fair prohibited the display and sale of items that include the Confederate flag (see below). That same year, the state of South Carolina removed the Confederate flag from the state capitol (see below). Many other examples exist. It is time for action for harmony in Wayne County.

There have been various attempts to smokescreen the core notions here.
There are only two core notions and they are:

1) Hate
2) Wayne County (our community)

This is not a legal issue. It is not a First Amendment issue. It is not a financial issue. The Wayne County Fair Board has not been forthcoming with a single legitimate point of support for the position that they have taken and maintained, to allow the display and sale of the Confederate flag.

A growing number of organizations and individuals have stated that they will not continue their historic participation in the Wayne County Fair over this issue. These include former significant buyers of livestock auctioned by youth and those who have provided other financial support, have exhibited and have contributed in other ways. The very nature of the fair may be in jeopardy. Most certainly the overwhelming community response is that this is both a threat and an embarrassment to our community. The implication and appearance is that the Wayne County Fair Board supports hate in Wayne County.

Readers are encouraged to express their concern to the Wayne County Fair Board:

Wayne County Fair
199 Vanover Street (Use this for personal visit)
PO Box 3 (Use this for USPS delivery)
Wooster, Ohio 44691

Phone: (330) 262-8001
Email: WayneCountyFair@yahoo.com

Such expressions of concern can be made public through copies to the Wooster Daily Record and support@RomichFoundation.org. The monthly meetings of the fair board are at 8:00 PM on the third Monday at the Armstrong Building, just west of the grandstand. Community members have presented to the fair board prior to their formal meeting.

 

Sign the Petition!

 

Simple Cost - Benefit Analysis

	ALLOW sale and display of Confederate flag items.	PROHIBIT sale and display of Confederate flag items.
COST:	Community discord. Wayne County money leaves the area.	0
BENEFIT:	No real benefit except to vendors. (Fair attendees have other non-public sources to purchase these items, although not at WalMart, Amazon, Sears, eBay, etc. for obvious reason.)	Community harmony. Money stays in Wayne County.

So if the above analysis is so obvious, why is this an issue?

At the March 21, 2016 meeting of the Wayne County Fair Board, it became clear that the fair board had the impression that there is a legal reason why they must take the positon of allowing the sale and display of Confederate flag items. (They have since been informed that there is no legal reason why they must allow.) Their "consultants and lawyers" have advised them on this matter. There is no indication that their consultants and lawyers have any interest in harmony in our community. Nor is there any forthcoming explanation as to why other organizations have succeeded in banning the sale and display of Confederate flag items and the Wayne County Fair Board could not. Further, it is unclear why there is a distinction between Confederate flag items and other items that are presently banned, such as "... OBSCENE PICTURES OR LETTERING, .... GUNS, KNIVES, SWORDS, OR REPLICA OF ANY WEAPONS".

Below are various resources that may be useful for further efforts to come to a positive resolution on this matter. The general response from the community seems to be that the members of the Wayne County Fair Board are basically good people who have been misguided and are taking some time to sort this out. The community will continue to help with this process until it is complete.

 

Wayne County Fair Rules and Regulations

Ohio Fair Managers Association Resolution
Note: This resolution leaves the decision to the local fair, but is worded in a way that leaves
the impression that display and sale of Confederate flag items is encouraged.

Ohio State Fair bans Confederate flag items
“The Ohio State Fair has long held a policy that prohibits the sale of merchandise that contains offensive wording, lettering or graphics,” General Manager Virgil L. Strickler wrote in a letter to vendors on Thursday. “As such, beginning with the 2015 Ohio State Fair, the sale or display of confederate flags and/or confederate flag merchandise shall be prohibited. Any vendors found to be selling any items featuring the image of the confederate flag will be asked to promptly remove those items.”

NASCAR tracks unite, ask fans not to fly Confederate flag
The facilities vowed to have the most "welcoming environments in all of sports and entertainment."

The Federalist: Let's Not Get Trolled on the Confederate Flag
Don’t React—Make a Judicious Decision
"So instead of being lured into the usual cycle of hostility, it is better to ask: how would we deal with this if we were acting, not out of hostility, but out of good will toward our fellow Americans? In this case, we would take into account all those who understandably (and correctly) see the Confederate flag as a giant unwelcome mat, representing the era in which people like them were oppressed and disenfranchised. Then we would limit the flag to those places and occasions in which its meaning really is strictly historical. Jeb Bush, who has the most experience with this issue, having faced a similar decision as governor of Florida, hit the right note when he advocated “moving the flag from the state grounds to a museum where it belonged.” It’s not about trying to expunge this chapter of the South’s history. It’s about making sure it remains history, and that we recognize all of that history, including the unpleasant parts."