West Union’s Tony Staggs has been chosen to serve as the Grand Marshal for the 2015 Adams County Fair parade.

Tony Staggs began his love and affection for the Adams County Fair over a half a century ago. His parents and grandparents would bring him and his younger brother and sisters to the county fair every summer.

Tony can remember entering the fair and seeing the Ferris wheel and hearing the music from the Merry-Go-Round. There were people everywhere. Standing along the center ring and sitting in the grandstands watching the horse shows, barns filled with animals, halls filled with furniture and exhibits and of course the concession booths and cotton candy.

As he got older, he can remember the countless laps around the center ring. He has often said he’d like to have a dollar for every time he walked around that ring. It was a way to see who was at the fair, or to show off a new girlfriend. After so many laps, it was like the horses, “reverse and walk” to see who had been walking in the same direction.

In the early 1980’s, Tony began participating in fair activities with a High Voltage Exhibit. He was employed at Adams Rural Electric Cooperative and would set up the exhibit to warn families and local farmers of the dangers of electricity. In addition, many of his fellow employees would assist in the repairs, replacement and maintenance of the electrical service on the grounds itself. Tony has continued to be an exhibitor and still has a booth in the merchant’s hall every year. He volunteers to see that the exhibitors are out of the building and makes sure the building is locked every night of the fair.

Tony’s dream for the Adams County Agricultural Society and the Adams County Fair is for his grandchildren to have the same feelings and fond memories of their fair as he has. He envisions the Center Ring and Wooden Grandstands being the showcase and center attraction of the fair. This past summer, his support was ever so visible when he and friends scraped and painted the back of the grandstands and had some of the asphalt sealed around the center ring and Merchant’s Hall. Something was still missing, so as a finishing touch, Tony brought American Flags and hung them along the front of the grandstands.

A Grandstand Renovation Committee was formed and Tony immediately wanted to be a part of it. With the need to raise funds for the renovation project, Tony organized the Grandstand Bonanza Elimination Dinner, along with several ACAS members, and raised $20,000 in order to get the project started.

Throughout the years, Tony has always been a community supporter. He served as president of the West Union High School Athletic Boosters for over 10 years and has headed the peewee basketball programs for over 600 kids in the county for many, many years. With his continued community support and his ongoing support and vision for our fairgrounds, the Adams County Agricultural Society has named him the 2014 Outstanding Adams County Fair Supporter.