FARMINGTON — The Franklin County Agricultural Society will hold its semiannual meeting Wednesday, Sept. 17.

It’s a tradition started 174 years ago in 1840, secretary Neal Yeaton, said. The meeting is held at 1 p.m. Wednesday of fair week in the Secretary’s Office on the fairgrounds. The annual meeting of the society is held in December.

All members are welcome and can vote on any decisions. The public can attend but can’t vote, he said.

Yeaton said members will tell about what’s going on and listen to any concerns people have or what they’d like to see at next year’s fair. 

Traditionally, the meeting is held but few members attend, he said. 

“Ninety-nine percent don’t realize they are members,” he said.

Membership comes with the purchase of a membership ticket that most think of as a family ticket, he said. There never was a family ticket, he added.

The ticket admits the purchaser, spouse and any children under age 18 to the fair any time during the week. 

The small print on the ticket acknowledges the purchaser’s membership in the agricultural society, he said. The ticket purchase helps support the society, he added. 

A ticket price was changed to $100 this year. An adult weeklong pass can be obtained for $35.

The change was based on what is needed to keep the place going, he said. People have to pay for other forms of entertainment.

Lifetime ticket holders are also members of the society, he said.

It’s too early to tell if the change will affect the weeklong fair attendance, he said.

So far, things are going well. Sunday was good although it turned cold early Sunday evening and people were not prepared, he said.

Monday night nearly 20 local residents participated in a Drag Your Neighbor drag race of street cars, he said. It was new this year, replacing a demolition derby.

The fair also changed the rules for people helping at organizational fair booths and commercial booths.

Previously, a list of workers for the fair was obtained from the organization. The fair ended up with 68 lists to check through when someone came to the gate and said they were working at the fair for the organization.

Now each one on the list is given a pass for the day they work. It was more work before the fair but it’s working well, he said.

Commercial entities are given three passes for employees and can purchase more, he said.

Unfortunately, in the past, a few took advantage, telling gatekeepers they were working when they weren’t or going in on a membership ticket with a car full of people who were not their children, he said.

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