July 17, 2025 The Beacon • 19
Ohio State Fair 50-Year Club Celebration set for July 29
Did you attend the Ohio State Fair 50 or more years ago? If so, you are invited to celebrate that legacy with fellow longtime fairgoers at this year’ s 50- Year Club Celebration.
This event is a reunion for those who first experienced the fair five decades ago or more. Whether you were showing livestock, participating in a youth program, performing in a band, or just enjoying the food and festivities, your memories are woven into the fabric of the fair’ s history.
Admission to the 50- Year Club Celebration is free, with no membership dues. The event will take place Tuesday, July 29. Registration will be at 9:30 a. m., and the program will start at 10 a. m. The location is the FFA Center at the Ohio State Fair, north of 17th Avenue. Parking is $ 10 in the north parking lot. July 29 also is Senior Citizens Day at the fair when seniors receive free admission onto the fairgrounds.
There will be a program from the award-winning Pearl Valley Farm Cheese and a presentation of the Giant Step Award to the Ohio State Fair Butter Cow— an icon of the fair for generations.
Each summer more than half a million fairgoers step into the dairy products building at the Ohio State Fair, drawn by a tradition: The Butter Cow. What began in 1903 as an entry in a butter-sculpting contest sponsored by Ohio State University and the Dairy Processors of Ohio has since become one of the most iconic symbols of the fair.
Admission to the 50-Year Club Celebration is free, with no membership dues. The event will take place Tuesday, July 29. Registration will be at 9:30 a. m., and the program will start at 10 a. m. The location is the FFA Center at the Ohio State Fair, north of 17th Avenue.
That first butter cow, sculpted by A. T. Shelton & Company using Sunbury Co-Operative Creamery butter, captivated fairgoers and quickly became a must-see attraction. By 1925 the growing popularity of this dairy marvel led to the construction of the dairy products building, where the Butter Cow and Calf have been on display ever since.
But the Butter Cow has never stood alone. Over time it has been joined by companion sculptures celebrating everything from Ohio astronauts and athletes to toys, holidays and patriotic themes. Sculpted from more than 2,200 pounds of butter unfit for consumption, these works of art take over 500 hours to complete and are maintained at a constant 45 F temperature. The result is a display that draws more than 500,000 visitors each year and captures national media attention as the largest butter sculpture exhibition at any fair in the country.
This year the 50-Year Club Celebration will present the Giant Step Award to the Ohio State Fair Butter Cow, sponsored by the American Dairy Association Mideast.
For more than 120 years, this attraction has celebrated the agricultural legacy of Ohio.
For more information on the 50-Year Club, call Barb Prince at 614- 644-4052, email her at B. Prince @ expo. ohio. gov, visit www. ohiostatefair. com / p / about-us / traditions / 50-year-club or visit the OSF 50-Year Club Facebook page.
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Call 330.674.2300 for more info.