- "Hillsdale Conservatives — America First" say they were ejected from their Hillsdale County fair booth over a harshly-worded flyer labeling County Clerk Abe Dane a "thief" of ballots.
- Members of the group are now trying to join the board that runs the Fair, but say Fair staff refuse to accept their applications.
- County Clerk Abe Dane says he had nothing to do with their expulsion, and says "they are welcome to say what they wish about me".
- Fair Manager Sabine Young has declined to comment.
Every summer, these Hillsdale County Fairgrounds are full of enjoyment.
But this year, a group called "Hillsdale Conservatives — America First" says it was ejected from the Fair. Now, they're trying to become members of the board that runs it.
Head of Hillsdale Conservatives Josh Gritzmaker says rowdy political speech at the County Fair is not unusual:
"We have stuff about Joe Biden. The Democrats have stuff about Donald Trump. It's all very similar stuff and no problems there."
But when it touched on a local politician...
"Then there's a problem," says Gritzmaker.
The group's flyer and poster, shown below, labeled Hillsdale County Clerk Abe Dane a "thief" of election ballots and urged law enforcement to investigate his role in the 2020 election.
WATCH THE VIDEO:
That election — now the subject of a District Court case I have covered here in Hillsdale.
Gritzmaker says that at the Fair, officials asked his group not to distribute the flyer, and that the group complied. Gritzmaker says he thought Fair officials were OK with the poster remaining. The next day, he says, Fair officials informed him the group had been banned.
I asked him: did they cite any particular rule that they said you broke?
He said: "No."
And no rules were given to you about what kind of content is allowed or not allowed? I asked.
"Our contract was very vague — almost too vague…that they have pretty much total rights as of the first party to be able to throw out and discard and make up rules as they go for whatever they deem necessary," was Gritzmaker's reply.
I reached out to County Clerk Abe Dane who said: "I personally had no part in their being ejected from the fair" and that Hillsdale Conservatives "are welcome to say what they wish about me".
But it doesn't end there. Some members of Gritzmaker's group are now trying to become board members of the County Agricultural Society, which runs the Fair.
The Fair's website says $10 makes anyone at least 18 yrs. of age a board member.
But members of the group say Fair staff are refusing their payments and applications.
"They wouldn't take the money!" says Gritzmaker.
I spoke to Fair Manager Sabine Young, and she declined to comment.
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