ROME TOWNSHIP –— The 2013 edition of the Lawrence County Junior 4-H Fair got off to an enthusiastic, albeit muddy, start.

Downpours over the weekend sent fair board members scrambling to clean up the grandstand arena.

“The rain kept coming and we kept moving mud. We had several tons,” Jim Thompson, fair board president, said. “On Friday we were here until 2 in the morning. Saturday until 1 and last night at midnight. We had all that mud stack against the fence.”

Thompson thanked those who helped clear it out during the opening ceremonies that focused on scholarships and the contributions of the numerous volunteers who enable the fair to happen each year.

Master of ceremonies Randy Lambert introduced representatives from the offices of Gov. John Kasich, Sen. Rob. Portman and Ohio State Treasurer Josh Mandel.

Reading from a letter from Portman, Todd Shelton, district representative for the senator, said “I wish I could be with you today. There is a rich tradition of agriculture in our great state …. (farmers) work early in the morning and until the sun goes down.”

Nick Gatz, regional liaison for Kasich, told the grandstand crowd how much the governor wishes to celebrate the county’s heritage of farming.

Scholarship winners, Hannah Williams, Eric Sias, Dalton Russell, Garrett Crawford, Dakota Barnett, Skye Barnett and Kelsey Huddle, were brought on stage to accept their checks.

The Lawrence County Republican Party made its 11th consecutive $1,000 contribution to the junior fair board. And this was the first year for the Lawrence County Commissioners and the Lawrence County Clerk of Courts to make a $1,000 contribution to the fair board.

The fair board also presented plaques to the families of three longtime fair supporters who died recently — Bob Crawford, Frank Call and Freddie Hayes Sr.

After the ceremony Thompson also praised the volunteer work of Rob Calloway of Rolo Excavating for helping create the track and jumps for the motocross event.