New FFA home

Three years in the making, Jay County FFA has a new home at the fairgrounds.

Jay County Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Monday afternoon to celebrate the new Robert C. and Joyce A. Lyons FFA Pavilion at Jay County Fairgrounds.

“It’s kind of a dream and a vision to mimic what the Indiana FFA Pavilion is at the state fairgrounds,” said Jay County FFA advisor Katie Loy alongside fellow advisors Matt Slavik and Ava Stockton during the ceremony.

Plans for the new facility were announced on the opening night of the 150th Jay County Fair in 2022. Those included naming the building for Lyons, the longest-serving member in the history of Jay County Fair Board, and his wife.

“I’m tickled that I was able to live long enough to see it,” said Lyons, 86, who served on the fair board from 1967 to 2019 with only a one-year absence and was a longtime agriculture teacher and FFA advisor at Portland High School and Jay County High School. “I think … they’ll take it and run with it.”

The pavilion already has a variety of activities available, including nine holes of mini golf to mimic the Indiana FFA Pavilion at the state fairgrounds. There is also a 40-foot coloring wall, a corn pit and information highlighting local agriculture producers.

Future plans include interactive exhibits similar to what might be found in a children’s museum — Jay County FFA is working with Museum EXP to develop them — and a gaming console similar to a farm simulator.

All of the activities in the pavilion will be free to patrons, which is music to Lyons’ ears.

“When I was a kid, I went to the fair every day,” said Lyons. “My mother let me have a dollar. … So I liked everything that was free.”

After plans for the new pavilion were announced during the 150th Jay County Fair, concrete work was completed over the next year. The 30-foot by 50-foot structure that previously served as a horse barn on the east side of the fairgrounds was moved to its new location in November 2023. The FFA has been working since then to get it ready for its opening at this year’s fair.

The effort has already cleared $60,000. The FFA received a $15,000 grant to help move the barn, and the $30,000 in concrete work was split between another grant from The Portland Foundation and a donation from Bob and Joyce Lyons.

Jay County FFA has been awarded an additional matching grant to work toward the $50,000 in interactive exhibits that are planned.

Loy thanked all of the donors who helped make the new facility possible.

“This all couldn’t have been possible without the FFA alumni taking it and … helping us find local donors and community members to support it,” she said. “We are forever thankful for this community and allowing us to be the program that we are.“

“It’s definitely been a labor of love.”