![\"Pat](\"https:\/\/www.thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Build-a-New-Band-Show-2014-donation-7-2014.jpg\")
<\/a>Smith said she talked to a number of band directors and parents and found general dissatisfaction with the current format. After her research, the new fair director said it was clear to her: \u201cWe need to do something totally different,\u201d she noted.<\/p>\n
What Smith came up with is the “Build a New Band Show” event. The new format includes having local bands entertain along the midway, like several area bands, including Lincolnview and Crestview, do already when they travel to Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. She came up with four time slots that bands can sign up for to walk the midway and entertain. Area bands also have the opportunity to perform between horse races as well.<\/p>\n
Then, for the actual band show, Smith developed a totally new format \u2013 kind of a \u201cshow within a show\u201d.<\/p>\n
She first booked a popular entertainment band \u2013 The Naked Karate Girls, which bills itself as the \u201cNo. 1 Midwest entertainment brand\u201d \u2013 to play during the traditional band show time slot (Monday evenings, the last few years).<\/p>\n
\u201cI first looked at getting Nashville Crush, but didn\u2019t want to compete with the Van Wert Rib Fest and other events that had already booked that band,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n
She also caught a break in getting The Naked Karate Girls for the fair. Although the very popular band is usually booked up six months ahead, Smith said Labor Day Monday somehow got overlooked, allowing the fair board to make a last-minute deal to bring the group here.<\/p>\n
Along with booking the band, the new fair director then talked to county high school band directors such as Crestview\u2019s Josh Thomas, Van Wert\u2019s Bob Sloan and Lincolnview\u2019s Anna Battle about having their musicians perform with the headline band. After looking at The Naked Karate Girls\u2019 playlist \u2013 and finding a number of songs they already perform for sports contests and other events \u2013 Smith said the directors were enthusiastic about the idea.<\/p>\n
To help defray the cost of bringing The Naked Karate Girls to the fair, Smith then went out and found a sponsor, with Ridgeview Behavioral Hospital happy to step up and provide a donation to pay that cost.<\/p>\n
Smith said she thinks the show will appeal to just about everyone who goes to the fair. Despite the name, The Naked Karate Girls plays songs all over the musical spectrum, from classic rock to hip-hop. The group is especially popular at events from Put-In Bay on Lake Erie to Hilton Head, South Carolina, but also plays at summer concert series, wedding receptions and festivals of all kinds.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomeone asked me \u2018Is this something I can take my grandma to?\u2019 Actually, yes,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n
Basically, the racy name is a gimmick, she added. \u201cThey told me \u2018we\u2019re just 40-year-old guys who picked a sweet name for a band\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, although change is something most Van Wert County residents seem anxious to avoid, Smith is hoping that the new band show format will gain approval from area fairgoers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we want to do here is revitalize the band show, not do away with it,\u201d Smith explained. \u201cIt will never be what it used to be, so let\u2019s start a new tradition.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
DAVE MOSIER\/independent editor The traditional band show at the Van Wert County Fairgrounds was one of the most popular events at the fair 20-30 years ago, with standing-room-only crowds and many area high school bands participating. Unfortunately, fewer area high school bands now play to a half-empty grandstand, and County Economic Development Director Sarah Smith, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-53693","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-24 12:55:56","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53693","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53693"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53693\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53693"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53693"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53693"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}