Hog wrestling was nixed, but $ didn't follow

MUNCIE – A little more than a month ago, thousands of people went online to complain about hog wrestling at the Delaware County Fair, calling the annual event sadistic and barbaric.

But few of those people stepped up to help offset the potential loss of revenue after the fair board voted on May 13 to cancel hog wrestling.

A GoFundMe account set up to cover the loss of $9,000 to $12,000 in anticipated hog wrestling revenue has raised only $855 — and $500 of that money was pledged by county Commissioner Shannon Henry, who had urged the fair board to cancel hog wrestling.

With less than a month until the fair, officials told The Star Press they were not only disappointed by the lack of financial support from people who decried hog wrestling but also expressed concern about the fair overall this year, particularly with the reduced interest in high school band competition night without the presence of Muncie's Central High School, which has no summer band this year.

"I'm very concerned about the fair this year," fair board president Jane Lasater, a member of Delaware County Council, said. "I feel like we've been hit with the perfect storm."

The fair board found a replacement for hog wrestling: A monster truck show will be held on Friday, July 24 instead of hog wrestling.

But the monster truck show isn't cheap, said Delaware County Recorder Melanie Marshall, who is the fair board member in charge of grandstand shows.

"That's a very expensive event," Marshall said, adding that the monster truck show will cost the fair board $12,000.

The controversy over hog wrestling at the fair — an old-fashioned event revived in recent years with participation from as many as 100 teams of people who try to capture hogs in a muddy ring — began this spring after The Star Press reported this year's fair events.

An online petition on Change.org was signed by thousands of people, many of whom also called county officials and fair board members to urge them — sometimes in strongly-worded language — to cancel the event.

In the fair board's May 13 meeting, frustrated fair board members defended hog wrestling and said that few local people spoke out about the practice.

The board voted to cancel hog wrestling, however, but set up the GoFundMe account and urged people to contribute to offset the loss in revenue.

That hasn't happened. Only 19 pledges were made and aside from Shannon and Beth Henry's $500, most were in the range of $5 to $30.

"Once the event was canceled, that was it as far as they were concerned," Henry said this week.

Marshall said last year's fair generated about $155,000 in revenue. Bad weather or events that don't attract crowds can cut into that amount.

Lasater expressed concern about the high school band competition, which will be held on Monday, July 20, particularly in light of Central's canceled summer band season.

"We don't have Winchester, Muncie Central, Anderson or Jay County," Lasater said, citing some area high-school-band powerhouses that have indicated they will not perform this year. "We'll have a band contest, but some of them will not be here."

Lasater said popular events will continue and the monster truck show should pull a crowd, she hoped.

"It's gonna be up to the community and the people to come out and come to the fair this year," she added.

This year's fair begins with 4-H competition on July 13. The midway runs July 20-25.

To donate to the Delaware County Fair: http://www.gofundme.com/delcofair

Contact Keith Roysdon at 765-213-5828 and follow him on Facebook and Twitter.