Tomorrow December 15 at 6:00 PM, the Hillsdale County Agricultural Society will hold its Annual Membership Meeting at the 4-H Dining Hall on the fairgrounds.
If you care about the Hillsdale County Fair, its agricultural roots, its volunteers, its 4-H youth, and its future as a community institution, this is a meeting you should attend.
This is not about disruption.
This is about supporting the Fair and insisting on good governance.
The Fair Belongs to the Community
For generations, the Hillsdale County Fair has been a place where the entire county comes together. Farmers, families, students, exhibitors, small businesses, and civic organizations all share in something larger than themselves. The Fair has always existed because the community stayed involved.
Involvement has waned over the past few decades. However, that has changed with the 150+ new voting members.
Good fairs require good governance. Good governance requires transparency, lawful procedure, respect for members and the community.
What Has Been Happening
Over the past several months, serious concerns have emerged about how the Fair has been governed. These concerns include refusal of membership to eligible residents, unannounced meetings held behind closed doors, Fair business conducted inside the Sheriff’s Department, members denied entry and threatened with felony trespass by the County Sheriff, refusal to provide board minutes required by law, suppression of lawful member motion to remove the board President/Undersheriff for misconduct, and an Annual Meeting agenda structured to prevent participation by members.
These are not personality disputes. They are governance issues that go to the heart of whether the Fair is being run for the people or away from them.
You Do Not Need to Vote to Matter
Under the Society’s rules, new members must wait 30 days before voting. Many people who join now will not be eligible to vote at the December 15 meeting.
That does not mean your presence is meaningless.
Members have the right to attend meetings.
Members have the right to be recognized.
Members have the right to speak.
Being unable to vote does not remove your voice.
Despite recent attempts by the Fair Board President to limit participation, members are still entitled to speak during a properly run meeting. Speaking is not voting. Observation is not disruption. Presence is not interference.
When members show up, governance improves. When rooms are full, accountability increases.
Membership Is Open and Lawful at the Meeting
Membership in the Hillsdale County Agricultural Society is ten dollars.
Eligible residents may join by paying dues, including at the meeting itself. While new members may not vote until the 30-day period has passed, membership cannot lawfully be refused simply because it is paid at the meeting.
Some attendees may be told otherwise. The bylaws and Michigan law do not support that claim.
Joining the Society is not just allowed. It is how the Fair stays community-owned and operated.
Why This Meeting Must Be Run Properly
A formal criminal complaint has now been filed with the Hillsdale County Prosecutor concerning misconduct, abuse of authority, unlawful meetings, withheld records, and intimidation of members.
That filing changes the landscape.
The Board is now on formal notice.
Law enforcement is on notice.
The Fair Manager and officers are on notice.
That means this meeting must be conducted lawfully, transparently, and without intimidation. The agenda must be followed correctly. Members must be recognized. Records must be preserved. Threats and suppression have no place in a meeting now under prosecutorial scrutiny.
Showing up matters because it reinforces the expectation that the rules will be followed.
This Is About Stewardship, Not Conflict
The Hillsdale County Fair has endured because people cared enough to participate. When communities disengage, institutions drift. When people assume their presence does not matter, control concentrates.
December 15 is an opportunity to do the opposite.
Show up to support the Fair.
Show up to support transparency.
Show up to support lawful governance.
You do not need to argue.
You do not need to disrupt.
You simply need to be there.
Meeting Information
What
Hillsdale County Agricultural Society Annual Membership Meeting
When
December 15 at 6:00 PM
Where
4-H Dining Hall, Hillsdale County Fairgrounds
Membership
Ten dollars, payable at the meeting
Bring a friend. Bring a neighbor. Bring your commitment to the Fair.
History does not always turn on a single vote.
Sometimes it turns when the chairs are no longer empty.
in liberty,
The Hillsdale Conservatives.
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