KENTON, Ohio – There are 88 county fairs in Ohio and fair managers across the Buckeye State are working feverously leading up to their opening day. Ohio’s county fair season kicked off with the Paulding County Fair on June 6 and will conclude with the Fairfield County Fair on Oct. 17.

The Hardin County Fairgrounds will be ready to host its yearly exhibition in September, although it may look a lot different than years past. The damage wrought by a tornado in March was devastating.

The tornado, with peak winds of about 90 mph, touched down just south of Kenton on March 26, leaving a path roughly a half mile long and up to 75 yards wide. No injuries or fatalities were reported, and the on-site caretaker was unharmed.

Hardin County Commissioner Joe Sherman remembers getting a phone call around 9 p.m. on March 26 informing him that a tornado had hit the fairgrounds.

“My first question was about the caretaker, ‘Is he safe?’” he said, referring to a maintenance worker who lives on the county-owned property. “Nobody got hurt, that’s all that matters. Everything else can be built back up.”

Sadly, though, 90 percent of the fairgrounds was in ruins.

Key structures damaged included the Machinery Building, Poultry & Rabbit Building, Hardin County Cattle Producers Steak Barn, Arts & Crafts Building, Hardin County Pork Producers Building, Maintenance Shop, Roundhouse, Grandstand, Goshen Barn and Youth and Ag Center. All received some damage, with the most serious being the Machinery Building. Several power lines and poles were downed.

“The rabbit barn was totally destroyed,” Sherman said.

The final repair bill will likely reach $1 million. However, it remains to be seen how much of the construction costs will be borne by the county and what insurance will pay for, Sherman said.

The grounds are owned by the Hardin County Commissioners and are leased to the Hardin County Agricultural Society.

Local contractors repaired some buildings within the county’s budget, and an electrical repair company helped rebuild some of the power lines.

The yearly event is vital to farmers in the region, said Hardin County Farm Bureau President Derek Snider.

“To me, it’s one of the biggest social events of the year for all those who work in agriculture,” he said.

To prepare for the Hardin County Fair on Sept. 8-13, temporary tents will replace damaged buildings. The county is using local contractors and an electrical repair company to rebuild infrastructure within budget. Insurance coverage for buildings and grounds is under the county’s policy, while contents and assets are covered by the fair board’s insurance.

Crucially, the fair gives the children and teenagers who participate in 4-H and FFA a chance to showcase their work, Snider said.

“The community comes together to support the youth,” he said. “It’s pretty important.”

One of the county’s 4-H clubs, the Boots and Buckles 4-H Club, gave back by launching a T-shirt sale to help the fair with its rebuilding efforts. The shirt sale ran through May 29.

They’re not the only ones that helped. The Wyandot County Fair Board recently presented the Hardin County board with a check for $12,000 from a recent fundraiser Wyandot held to benefit its neighbors.

The fair board also started a relief fund in April to help with costs beyond what insurance will pay. At the board’s May meeting, Rob Wilson, chairman of the grounds committee, said they’ve received a donation of $10,000 from Invenergy and $36,000 from Ohio Harness Racing.

“We continue to be overwhelmed with the generosity of the Hardin County community as well as the broader fair community,” Sherman said. “We didn’t ever plan on accepting donations for tornado relief, but after so many people have reached out, we felt like we had to offer some place for folks to donate to the relief effort.”

The annual gathering is part of the lifeblood of this agriculture community in a county of roughly 30,000 people.

Tornado warnings and strong thunderstorms have played havoc with Ohio county fairs in recent years.

Severe thunderstorms caused flash flooding at the Preble County Fairgrounds in Eaton, Ohio, on July 30, 2024. Over a foot of water accumulated, swamping campsites and trapping vehicles. No serious injuries were reported, and the water receded by 8 a.m. the next day.

In July 2023, the Fayette County Fair closed early due to severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings. No major damage was reported, but the midway was shut down for safety. And on Sept. 22, 2025, at the Brown County Fair, a tornado warning prompted cancellation of events at the fairgrounds.

In 2000, a violent F4 tornado struck the Greene County Fairgrounds in Xenia, Ohio, destroying many structures on the grounds.