In today's Plain Dealer::Fie on the foes of the Great Lakes Medieval Faire -- an editorial
by The editors
Thursday August 20, 2009, 4:19 AM
A pox on politicians who make sport of the Great Lakes Medieval Faire.
Wherefore art they so knuckle-headed?
The Trumbull Township trustees have spent 13 years wasting taxpayer money and losing court cases in an effort to bludgeon the Medieval Faire into oblivion.
The six-weekend-long event -- which just concluded its 17th year of jousters, jesters and jugglers -- is a moneymaker. The director of the Ashtabula County Convention and Visitors Bureau describes it as a key portion of the county's $346 million annual tourism take.
Trustees Chairman Ron Tamburrino cites health and safety concerns, but Lt. Greg Leonhard says the Sheriff's Department gets more complaints about the county fair.
Embattled owner Larry Rickard hosts the Medieval Faire on his property -- nearly 180 acres transformed into the 13th-century Village of Avaloch. But the cost of fighting frivolous court actions has topped $1 million and is taking a toll on the faire's future.
It is the largest employer in the township and one of the largest in the county, hiring more than 500 people.
Hundreds of supporters showed up at a recent meeting to protest the three township trustees' logic-defying -- and costly -- feud with the faire. Just in the past year, Tamburrino told residents the township had spent about $60,000 on litigation.
The trustees would better serve their constituents by filling potholes rather than enriching lawyers -- especially now that Rickard has run afoul of a higher power: The state attorney general has accused him of misappropriating funds meant for charities. If something's rotten in Avaloch, the faire will be on shaky ground.