Ag breakfast returning

Breakfast is back.

After a five-year hiatus, the Jay County Ag Week Committee is bringing back the traditional Ag Day Breakfast from 5 to 9 a.m. Tuesday in the Bob Schmit Memorial Exhibition Hall at Jay County Fairgrounds.

For years, the Ag Day Breakfast had been a March tradition. But, like so many things, the coronavirus pandemic disrupted it.

“When COVID hit, we were getting ready to do it,” said Mark Tillman of the Jay County Ag Week Committee. “And COVID hit and we didn’t do it in 2020.”

The country was still in the throes of the pandemic in 2021 and the committee wasn’t sure if the time was right yet in 2022. Coffee and donuts were served last year.

“We went with something simple just to see if they were willing to still do this or not,” said Tillman. “They said they were. …

“It was very clear that the community wanted back to the normal …”

Normal is a full breakfast of scrambled eggs, sausage and toast. Beverage options will include milk, juice and coffee.

The cost — $1.

In addition to Tillman, the committee currently includes Larry Temple, Emily Kring, Angela Paxson, Greg Miller, Katie Loy, Jenny Wagner, Nancy Cline, Cody Linville, Matt Slavik, Cindy Murphy, Zach Chenoweth, Allison Keen and Connie Muhlenkamp.

They will be getting help from Jay County FFA members in the kitchen as well as Jay County High School exchange students, area extension homemakers and others.

“It draws the community together, from in town, out of town, anywhere,” said Temple, noting that the recently released 2022 Census of Agriculture shows Jay County ranked No. 1 for cash receipts among the state’s 92 counties. “I just think it’s something we need to celebrate and support.”

“It illustrates what this county produces — eggs, pork, wheat for bread,” added Tillman. “It’s just an extension of what this county brings to the community and throughout the state.”

Eggs for the breakfast will come from Jay County’s Minnich Poultry and sausage from Fisher Packing in Portland. Red Gold (Geneva), Wayne IGA (Fort Recovery) and Alpine Water (Berne) will also be sources of supplies for the event.

In addition to the breakfast, there will be booths set up for the event. Among those expected to attend are IU Health Jay — it will offer blood pressure checks and will also have fruit to supplement the breakfast offerings — Ivy Tech Community College, Jay County 4-H, Jay County Farm Bureau and the local U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency office.

Tillman noted that the ag dinner — he said it was down to about 50 attendees — won’t be part of the schedule this year. The breakfast typically brings in 700 to 1,000 visitors, he added, reminding residents that carry-out is available.

“That’s the nice thing,” he said, “people can stop in, pick up the carryouts, take them to work and spread them out amongst others.”

Ultimately, the breakfast comes down to community. It’s an opportunity to visit with friends and neighbors.

“They’ll go through the line, they’ll see somebody they haven’t seen for a while and they’ll sit down with them and start a (conversation),” said Tillman. “Another thing I like to see is … you’ll see farm families come in and sit as a group. That’s something they probably do every day, but they’ll come in and sit down and eat their breakfast together.”