TIFFIN, Ohio — It was a hot week for a county fair, but a quick round of rain rolling through Friday morning was a bit of relief from the oppressive heat for Seneca County Fair attendees.
Since Monday, the biggest worry has been keeping people and animals cool. This is why many of the animals that aren't part of a commercial sale were sent home early.
"Space the barns out a little bit more, gets some more oxygen through barns, get the animals back home and try to keep everybody healthy." fair board president Brian Staib said.
How do they keep the barns cool? Fans, fans and more fans.
Meanwhile, fair directors and staff were busy all week making extra golf cart runs to keep people off their feet and ensure exhibitors were well taken care of.
"We've got shifts running the barns, making sure everybody's got water. Clean, fresh, cold water as much as we could," Staib said.
Volunteers from Good Shepherd Home who served hot food inside the lunch pavilion made sure to take turns preparing the food over the fryers and grills.
"We do four-hour shifts that way we're not overworking ourselves, and it normally goes pretty good," volunteer Ian Yoshimoto said.
WTOL 11 spoke with 4-H kids who said they ended up spending less time than usual out and about with friends this week, and more time with their animals.
"They like the nice cold water, and we take them out and walk them around when there's a breeze and stuff," Alex Fitzpatrick said.
"Make sure their bedding is clean and give them fresh water, or water if they need it in general," Gage Fruth said.
Fair leaders are looking forward to getting through today's tumultuous weather because they know once this heat and humidity breaks, the rest of the weekend looks like pristine weather.
"We're used to dealing with the heat," Staib said. "We've been real fortunate the last couple of years, we haven't had a real steamy fair, but this year is an exception. So, I hope we can just get through the day and it cools off and we'll get our Bulls and Barrels in tonight then cool off for the demolition derby tomorrow and tractor pull on Sunday."