FRIENDS OF THE FAIRGROUNDS

newsletter

www.mercercountyohiofair.com1001 West Market Street, PO Box 103

Celina, Ohio 45822419-586-3239 • Fax 419-586-1379

Volume 1 • Edition 1 • June 2017

MERCER COUNTYFAIR BOARD

FAIR MANAGERCARA MUHLENKAMP

PRESIDENTJEFF SELHORSTButler Township

VICE PRESIDENTRYAN FENNIG

Jefferson BTREASURERAMY HAYES

At Large BSECRETARY

TESSIE COLLINS~~~

ROB HECKLERAt Large A

TOM MUHLENKAMPJefferson A

ROGER HUEINGGranville Township

CAITLIN GRIERUnion Township

MARTHA KNAPKECenter Township

JERRY MEYERWashington TownshipCHARLENE FINDLEY

At Large CNICK GRIER

Hopewell TownshipNICK ROSE

Liberty TownshipOPEN SEAT

Gibson TownshipOPEN SEAT

Marion TownshipOPEN SEAT

Franklin TownshipOPEN SEAT

Blackcreek TownshipOPEN SEAT

Recovery TownshipOPEN SEAT

Dublin Township

New additon to the fairgrounds Welcometothefirsteditionofthe“FriendsoftheFairgroundsNewsletter!”Weareexcitedtobring this new feature to all of you, our family and friends. Wearegoingtostartthisoutslow,aswedon’tknowexactlyhowoftenwewillrollthisnews-letteroffofthepresses.Pleasebepatientwithus,asweworkoutallofthebugs,cobwebsandanyother critters that get in our way. Feelfreetosubmitanynewsforpossiblepublicationtorlink@mercercountyohiofair.com.Wedonotguaranteeeverythingwillbepublished,butwecan’tprintitifwedon’thaveit. Happyreading!

RVs rolling into Mercer County; car show slated If you hear the sounds of wheels rolling through town, it could be the Monaco International RV ClubheadingtotheMercerCountyFairgrounds.ThislargegroupwillbehostingtheirrallyJuly1-10.Therewillbenopubliccampingavailableduringtherally. Monaco International isoneof the largest chaptersof coachownersintheFamilyMotorCoachAssociation.Theyhostsev-eralrallieseveryyearinavarietyoflocationstypicallyad-jacenttotheInternationalFMCARally.MembershiptotheclubisopentoanyonewhoownsanybrandofmotorhomemanufacturedbyMonacoCoachCorporationorMonacoRVor the Monaco Division of REV (Monaco, Holiday Rambler, Beaver,Safari,Royale,etc.)andisamemberoftheFamilyMo-torCoachAssociation(FMCA). Alongwiththeirownevents,CustomRod&MuscleAutoSales,Celina,willbeholdingacarshowonSunday,July9,from1-5p.m.Therewillbedoorprizes,trophiesanddashplaques.Fritz’sHog Wild BBQ will be on site. This event is open to the public and in case of inclementweather, the eventwill be held inMulti-PurposeBuilding#2.

WEDDINGS! REUNIONS! PARTIES! SMALL GROUPS!LARGE GROUPS! EVENTS! MORE!

HALL RENTALSCALL 419-586-3239 TO RESERVE YOUR DATE!

FRIENDS OF THE FAIRGROUNDS newsletter • Page 2 • June 2017

2017 Concert Performer FeatureBrothersOsborne:AcademyofCountryMusic’sVocalDuo of the Year and New Vocal Duo of the Year Years before they climbed the country chartswithsongslike“StayaLittleLonger”and“Rum,”theBrothersOsbornegrewupinDeale,Maryland,asmallfishingtownontheAtlanticseaboard.Itwasacozyplace,filledwith blue-collar workers who made their liv-ing on the water. During the weekends, many of those workers would head over to the Os-borne household, where a series of loose, all-night jam sessions filled the Marylandair with the sounds of Bob Seger, Hank Wil-liams,TomPettyandGeorgeJones. The Osborne siblingsstrummed their first chordsduring those jam sessions. Fromtheverystart,TJOs-borne was the brother with the voice. He sang in a thick, low baritone, crooning like Johnny Cash long beforehe was even old enough to drive. Older brother John,on the other hand, was the family’s guitar shredder, his fingers capable of down-home bluegrass licks, are-na-worthy rock riffs, coun-try twang, and everything in between. Combined, the two Osbornescouldplayevery-thing from traditional coun-try music to rock & roll,creating a broad, full-bodied sound that would eventually fillthe11songsontheirma-jor-labeldebut,PawnShop. Likeitstitlesuggests,PawnShopoffersalittlebitofeverything.There’sbluesyslideguitar, country duets, southern rock solos, harmonies,andplentyofgroove.Thehooksare big, the guitars are loud, and the songs — every last one of them co-written by the Osbornes, who reached out to award-win-ning songwriters like ShaneMcAnally andRoss Copperman for help — introduce aduo whose music bridges the gap betweenthe mainstream and the alternative world. Some songs were written at home in Nash-ville, while others came together on the road, where theguys spent severalyearsheadlin-ing their own club shows, touring the coun-try with Darius Rucker, and playing someofthebiggestarenasinAmericawithfellow

rule-breaker Eric Church. “Most duos are built on singing,” saysTJ “But John is an incredible guitar player,andthisbandisbuiltonmesingingandJohnplayingguitar. Itgivesus twoparallels thatworknicelytogether.” “It’slikeanold-schoolrockapproach,”addsJohn,whocitesclassicbandslikeAero-smithandtheAllmanBrothersasinfluenceson theduo’sdynamic. “Groups like that al-ways had the lead singer as well as the side-man guitar player.That’swhatwe’re going

for,too.We’recarvingourownpathincoun-trymusic.” That unique path has already led theband toward the upper half of the countrycharts. “Rum” got them there first, mixingthe feel-good sunshine of a beach tune with a farmorerealisticstoryline.There’snoactualbeach in “Rum,”after all. Instead,BrothersOsborne turn the song into a tribute to the simple pleasures that theirMarylandhome-town offers: friends, goodweather, and theoccasionaldrink.Theyevenfilmedthesong’smusic video in Deale, filling the clip withfootage of friends, relatives, and locals. “Mostpeoplewegrewupwithdon’tgoto these beautiful beaches,” saysTJ. “Theycan’taffordtodoit.Theydon’thavethetime

forit.Whatwe’remostfamiliarwithispeo-ple going to the local bars andhangingoutwith each other.” John adds, “We tried tohavethebiggesttimepossiblewithwhatlittlewe had. ‘Rum’ explains that.”The brothersagree,“Wehad tosay it fromourownper-spective.” A similar theme runs throughout “DirtRich” and “Pawn Shop,” two songs thatstress the importance of appreciating whatyou’ve got. PawnShopdishes upplenty oflovesongs,too,from“LovingMeBack”—

an old-school country duet featuring vocals from LeeAnn Womack — to “StayaLittleLonger,”theband’sbiggest hit to date. While a three-minute guitar solo brings “Stay a Little Lon-ger” to an epic, anthemicclose, Brothers Osborne also devote time to more laid-back songs, from the nostalgic California coun-try of “21 Summer” to the420-friendly “Greener Pas-tures.” Brothers Osborne, who co-producedthealbumwithJay Joyce (the award-win-ningproducerbehindLittleBigTown’s Painkiller, EricChurch’sThe Outsiders, and Carrie Underwood’s Sto-ryteller), recorded most of PawnShopduringbreaksin

their busy touring schedule, using members of their own touring band rather than session musicians from the Nashville community. The result is an album that’s stampedwiththe unmistakable mark of a band. It doesn’t sound like two singers, flanked by anony-mousplayers.Instead,itsoundslikeagroupofroadwarriorswho’vespentyearssharingbus seats and hotel rooms, creating the sort of chemistry that can’t be faked. PawnShopisboth raw and real, and Brothers Osborne — who, years after those household jam sessions in Deale, now have a handful of nationwide tours under their belts, songs on the charts, and a career on the rise — are no longer a family secret.

BROTHERS OSBORNE will share the stage on Friday, August 11, at 8 p.m., during the 2017 Mercer County Fair with Granger Smith, featuring Earl Dibbles, Jr. Tickets available at mercercountyohiofair.com.

FRIENDS OF THE FAIRGROUNDS newsletter • Page 3 • June 2017

Editor’s Note: Take a listen to the words of Granger Smith about his life and career.

~~~ Myname isGrangerSmith.Sometimeslong,fancyindustrybiosarehelpful,butoth-er times you just need to hear from the guy actually living it, so here’s my story. I was born and raised Texan, and I’mproudofthat.Igrewupalongwithtwobroth-ers, a couple of yellow labrador retrieversandparentsthatstayedtogetherbecausetheyloved each other. My life changed when I was 14 years oldanddecidedIwouldteachmyselftoplayguitar.Thiswasmotivatedbytwo things: I thought the gui-tarwouldmake girls pay at-tention to me, and the fact that GeorgeStraitplayedone. By the time I turned 15,I was performing weekendson small town stages in North Texas, and doingmybest asa fan club member to attend every George Strait concertwithindrivingdistance.Play-ing high school football was an important rite of passagefor me, along with hunting andfishing,butthedreamofa music career consumed me. Atage19,Iwassatisfiedwith enough songs I had writ-ten to make an album.As afreshmanatTexasA&M,Iwasabletoscrapetogether some studio money by pre-sellingthealbumtofriendsaroundcampus.Forbe-ingjustakid,thatalbumdidprettygood.Itlanded me a songwriting deal with EMI Mu-sicPublishinginNashville,andthefollowingyear,ItooktheleaptoTennessee. My time in Nashville was important. Iabsorbed the craft of songwriting from some of the best, learned my way around studios and recording gear, (which paid off formelater) and cut my teeth on countless stages asbothasingerandasasteelguitarplayerfor other singers.After four years, I had ashelf full of song demos, a little bit of music business know-how and a strong conviction tomoveback toTexas,finishmydegree atTexasA&M,andstartaband. Moving back to College Station was ba-sically starting over.The gigswere hard tobookandwhentheydid,nobodyshoweduptowatch,but Iwashappyand feltcreative.I saved money by making albums out of my house and using my band. We wore out vehi-

clesfromtwopickuptrucks,toasuburban,toavanand thenanothervan.The trailerswetowed got bigger, and ever so slowly, so did ourcrowds.Ilearnedhowtouseacamera&some editing software for making homemade music videos and we made lots of them. My little brother, Tyler joined me in2008. He traded a pretty good job at thebank to jump inanoldvanandsell t-shirtsin honky-tonk dive bars. I think he did it not only because he shared the same vision as me,butalsobecausehiscompetitivenaturewasexcitedaboutprovingabunchofpeoplewrong,sndthat’sexactlywhatwedid.

Togetherweconspiredandworkedfromthegroundupwiththegoalofnotonlybuild-ing an artist, but a brand. We embraced social media, searched for connection with fans, studied our predecessors and ignored ourdoubters.Thegoodshowshelpedpayforallthebadones,andthesongsthatsoldhelpedfund all the others thatdidn’t.Weputcom-munitiesfirst,knowingthatwithoutthepeo-ple,wewerewithoutajob. We created alter egos through videos tohelppromote themusic and that’swhereEarlDibbles,Jr.camefrominthesummerof2011. It started as a short, funnyvideo thatmybrothers and IfilmedwheremyparentsliveinCentralTexas, but it turned out to be somethingthatcompletelychangedtheshapeof my career. I actually like to think of it as an“intentionalaccident”becauseasplanned,thevideowentviralandbecameahugepro-motional tool for my music, but we had no way to know if it would actually work...es-pecially sincemany ofmy videos before itnevercaughtfire.

In theearlymorningofApril16,2013,Iwokeup and checked the iTunes storeonmy phonewith tired eyes. Iwas absolutelyshocked to seemy new album, “Dirt RoadDriveway”sittingat#1.Thingswere rapid-ly changing on the road, too. We were see-ing sold out shows in markets we had never played,andapassioninfansunlikeanythingI had seen before. Afterindependentlyreleasingsevenstu-dio albums, one live album and twoEPs, Ifinallysignedmyfirstrecorddealin2015.ImetsomegreatpeopleatBrokenBowMusicGroup inNashvillewho sought us out, be-

lieved in my dedication and wanted to take what I was al-ready doing, and magnify the message. We worked together not only as colleagues, but as friends on the same mission. Within only weeks of the signing, my debut sin-gle “Backroad Song” wasa hit a mainstream country radio faster than any of us expected. On February 14,2016, the single became themostplayedinAmericaas ittoppedallthemainstreamra-diocharts.Thiswasalifelongdream for me both as a singer and songwriter. The follow-ing month, my first national

debutalbum,“Remington”hitstores. A few years ago, I was standing withmybootsinred,sandyIraqisoilwatchingabeautifully majestic Middle Eastern sunset, when one of my band members asked me, “Canyoubelievemusicgotushere?”No,Ican’t. What a journey its been since I decided to chase thiscrazydream. We’veplayed10 countries, three conti-nents, even the White House a few times, and I still can’t believe it all started with a few guitar chords. I have a song called “SleepingOnTheInterstate”where Iwrote, “Connectingmapdots like poets and prisoners, trying to livemore like a lover than sinner, slave to dreams sofaraway.”That’sme. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from the music business, it’s that you don’t really choose this life, youare this life.That’s thetruth no matter if you’re selling albums or not. I do what I love and love what I do, and there’s no sweeter freedom than that.

2017 Concert Performer Feature

GrangerSmith,featuringEarlDibbles,Jr.

GRANGER SMITH (left), and his alter ego, Earl Dib-bles, Jr., along with Brothers Osborne, will take the stage at the 2017 Mercer County Fair on Friday, August 11, at 8 p.m. Tickets available at mercercountyohiofair.com.

FRIENDS OF THE FAIRGROUNDS newsletter • Page 4 • June 2017

SAVE$$$

When You Buy Pre-Sale Ride Tickets& Weekly Fair Passes!

LET’S DO THE MATH...

SAVE YOUR MONEY & BUY PRE-SALE!!!Available At The Fairground Office Or At Locations Around The County!

Listing Of Locations Will Be Posted On Facebook!

DAILY RIDE TICKET ................................ $9 PER DAYRide All Day/Every Day When Purchased Daily - TOTAL $63

PRE-SALE RIDE TICKETS ...........$35 ($5 PER DAY!)SAVE $4.00 PER DAY!

DAILY GATE ADMISSION ...................... $6 PER DAYPurchased Daily - 7-DAY TOTAL $42

WEEKLY TICKET ...................$20 ($2.86 PER DAY!)SAVE $3.14 PER DAY!

Needcampsiteforfairweek? Due to the overwhelming need for morecampingsitesduringfairweek,46 new sites have been added to ELot.TheMercerCountyFairgroundsis growing and these improvementsare a welcome addition. If you are in need of a site, call theofficeat419-586-3239forallthedetails and to reserve. Donothesitiate,asthesecampingsites will go fast.

Newattractionsfor2017fair

ReverseRaffleticketsonsaleAugust1 Slated for Saturday, March 24,2018,will be the second annualRe-verse Raffle. Held at the CooperFarms’JuniorFairBuilding,theeventwill feature dinner, live/silent auctions

and the reverse raffle with a grandprizeof$5,000.Doorsopenat5p.m. Tickets go on sale at the fair-ground office onTuesday,August 1.Eachticketcosts$100withonly250tickets sold. Thisyear’seventwillbenefittherenovation of the restrooms located on the east side of the fairgrounds. “Theserestroomshaveneededre-pairedforalongtime,”statedMercerCounty Fair Manager Cara Muhlen-kamp. “With theproceeds from thisevent, we will be able to enhance yet anotherpartofthefairgrounds.” Last year’s event raised over$30,000 which went toward a newtrackannouncer’sstandandaperma-nent stage.

Every year, the Mercer County Fair Board attends the annual OhioFair Managers’ Association’s Con-vention to gain knowledge on new andupcomingentertainment. Other than the live concert with BrothersOsborneandGrangerSmith,featuringEarlDibbles,Jr.,thefairwillfeature the following new attractions for the whole family to enjoy: *Father Leo Patalinghug - pre-senting and uplifting and passionatepresentionplusacookingdemonstra-tiononSunday,August13,at7p.m.,at the grandstands. Bring your lawn chairstositupclose.Freegrandstandadmission. *Bears of Bearadise Ranch - fea-tured every day of the fair, Bearadise Ranch brings to you their big, beauti-fulbruinsinlovinghumancare.Pro-motinghabitatpreservationandcon-servation for all bear species, learnaboutbearsandgainanappreciationfor themupcloseandpersonal.Wit-ness the love between man and bear. *Beer Garden Entertainment - awhole week of music will be heard withgroupsincludingErastus,South-ernRockSuperStars,Anthems&Al-ibis,Supervillan,AaronDanielBand,SawCreekandPac-ManProductions. *SouthernRockSuperStars-tak-ing theBeerGarden stage on Satur-day,August12,at8p.m.,thisgroupisAmerica’sPremiereSouthernLynyrdSkynyrdTributeBand.TheywillgetyourbloodpumpingtoallofLynyrdSkynyrd’s greatest hits, as well as oth-er southern rock favorites from .38

Special, Blackfoot, ZZ Top, AllmanBrothers and more. *OneManBand&Son-strollingthe grounds Friday throughWednes-day of the fair will be a one-of-a-kind showofextrememusicwithcomedyfor all ages. The repertoire aims atsongseveryageshouldrecognizecov-eringthe60’sthroughtotodaywithamixofRock,Country,Popandmore.With improv comedic antics, no twoshows are alike. *NewOutlook-performingMon-day through the last day of the fair will be this group performing great blue-grassandgospelmusic.NewOutlookcontinues to thrill audiences with their impeccable vocal and instrumentalperformances. *W.A.R. Wrestling - featured atthe grandstand, action hits the ring with live professional wrestling onWednesday, August 16, at 7 p.m.Grandstandadmissionis$3perpersonandseatsarefirstcome,firstserved.

ENTERYOUR PRIZE SENIOR FAIR

PROJECTS AT THE FAIR!~ Choose From These Departments ~

Agriculture • FloralHome/Art/Domestics • Household

Dairy • Beef • Goat • PoultrySheep/Lamb • Swine

Info & Entry Forms At The Fair Office, In The Fair Book, on Facebook Or At

mercercountyohiofair.com