Findlay was just another area that didn't escape the wrath of mother nature on Friday. Homes damaged, trees down, power lines snapped, and no electricity for many residents. A decision was made immediately that the independence celebration scheduled for Tuesday should go on. Hancock county fairgrounds Operations Manager David Thomas said "well it's Independence day. It's time to celebrate. It's a very important holiday in the history of this great country and this is year long planning and this isn't put together at the last minute."
Downed buildings at the fairgrounds show the shear force that the storms brought on Friday to Hancock county. Crews were working at repairing power to the fairgrounds, but those that were working the independence celebration relied on generators. Jennifer Marsh of Marsh Concessions said "our diesel generator blew up yesterday. I went to pick that up for home use and ended up using it here today for the business."
The entire fairgrounds powered by generators to make sure the concessions and stage was ready so the residents of Findlay could forget about the stress and woes of the storm and power outages. Findlay resident, Cherie Hocanson, said "it was hard especially with the fairgrounds and the buildings being torn down and all that from the big winds that hit, but absolutely it's a great time to come together and celebrate the 4th of July and community and that's what we're all about here in Findlay."
According to event organizers, things could not have come together without the volunteers when crunch time occurred. "whether it be the fair or the 4th of July or anything else we sponsor it all comes back to people and Hancock county is very well noted around the entire state of Ohio for comradery, how they come together at a time like this." said Thomas. The night at the Hancock county fairgrounds ended with a fireworks show. Something residents had been waiting on since early in the afternoon.
