Check out these amazing photos from the Jackson County Jr. Fair!
Photographer BJ Blackburn of the Jackson County Livestock Committee took these photos — top notch work!
On another note, my mind turns to Sandra Jean Leonard, 77, of Jackson, Ohio, who passed away on April 21, 2024.
Sandy was very active in her support of the Jackson County Jr. Fair and 4-H, so I can’t help but think this will be the first fair she won’t be a part of.
Sandy was employed by the Times Journal newspaper for 30 plus years. She wrote a column for the Times Journal and Vinton County Courier called “Country Cooking”. She was a 4-H advisor for Apple City 4-H for 32 years, as well as a member of the Moonshiners 4-H club as a youth member. She was also a member of Victory Grange for 10 years.
When I returned to Southeast Ohio a few years back, Sandy was the first person I contacted when I had to cover the Jackson County Jr. Fair. She connected me with the folks I needed to talk with to get more information about the fair that year. Sandy, thank-you. RIP.
On another note, I’m going to give a shout-out to Telegram Editor Pete Wilson and crew for their coverage of the fair. Long ago, I learned Pete’s system and adopted it when covering other county fairs across the country.
Basically, Pete and another reporter/photographer will write down the names of the buyers who bought a kid’s livestock for the newspaper — it’s really a team effort because you have to keep up getting the names and details because the livestock auction moves pretty fast. Not only is Pete’s team recording history perhaps for parents’ scrapbooks, but keeping tabs on record sales and who is awarded blue ribbons for champion animals.
Let’s face it — these kids put a lot of effort into raising these animals. If the newspaper can cover a football game every Friday, then we can certainly publish a bit of news about the fair each season.
On that note, if you have fair photos you would like to see published in the Courier, send them to mlayton@vintonjacksoncourier.com or mlayton@circlevilleherald.com
As we’ve done for the past few years I’ve served as editor of the Courier, also Region Editor for many newspapers across Ohio, I’ll do my best to publish these photos in the newspaper.
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