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The Wayne County Farm Tour was started by the Wooster Camera Club in 1966 and, sometime around 1970, a group called the “Ag Leaders” took over organizing the tour. In 1979, the tour did not take place, but the Wayne County Farm Bureau took on the event in 1980 and has organized it ever since. It has been on the second weekend of October and rotated counter clockwise around the four quadrants of the county since 1980. To our knowledge, the tour has taken place every October since 1966, with the exception of 1979 and 2020.

The Wayne County Farm Bureau volunteers who were instrumental in continuing this event after the 1979 pause were Fred Finney, Becky Workinger and Becky Leatherman. The early years of the tour were dedicated in memory of Becky Leatherman, as she tragically passed away in a car accident. Fred went on to become the District 8 state trustee for Ohio Farm Bureau from 1984-1992 and Ohio Farm Bureau president 1989-1992. Becky Workinger was involved with the Wayne County Farm Bureau Women’s Committee and Farm Tour committee in the 1980s and again in the 2000s.

A few memories that Fred and Becky have of the 1980 farm tour – it snowed on the Saturday of the farm tour. The first stop was in Smithville at the Landmark Cooperative. They had many people arrive early wondering where the bus was (they didn’t realize it was a drive-it-yourself tour). For a number of years, school groups attended the tour on Friday as a field trip. The tour booklet also featured the church services that visitors could attend near the tour on Sunday morning if they were coming in from out of town.

In 1980, the tour was located in the northeast quadrant on Oct. 11 and 12 and featured nine stops. Farm Tour committee members were Becky Workinger, Fred Finney, Jim Ogden, Ruth Mosher, Jim Toff and Don Abbott. Addresses were not provided in the brochure – attendees needed to be able to read the map!

Wayne County Farm Bureau intends to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the tour Oct. 10 and 11 in the northeast quadrant. The committee is seeking nominations for host stops. Please contact the Wooster Farm Bureau office at 330-263-7456 if you are interested.

Final tour details will be released by Sept. 1 at wayne.ofbf.org.

Article written by Lindsay Tournoux

Organization Director

Ashland, Medina, Summit, and Wayne County Farm Bureau

Photo caption: The group looks at a gleaning device used to clean chaff and other items from grains that will be resown on the farm.