Butler Farm Show follows Trump rally shooting with annual event to ‘get back to normal life’
The 76th Annual Butler Farm Show kicked off Monday in the very same field where an assassination attempt on former President Trump's life took place just over three weeks ago.
Vendors and organizers had been busy setting up Sunday for the event, which runs from Aug. 5-10, while most of the law enforcement presence had dissipated in the interim.
Ken Laughlin, president of the Butler Farm Show, said late Sunday that he and the other organizers are looking forward to getting the festival started, but that the July 13 shooting and its aftermath still weigh heavily on them.
"We're very saddened by the incident that happened here. You know, a good man lost his life and three men were injured," Laughlin said, referring to injuries to Trump and two of his supporters, David Dutch and James Copenhaver, and the death of Corey Comperatore.
"You know it's a hard thing to get over, but everybody is excited here to get the Farm Show going and get back to normal life."
"It's a family event and everybody is just excited to make it happen."
With security lapses at Trump's rally being front-page news for weeks, Fox News Digital asked Laughlin if any additional preparations were being made in that regard for the event.
"Yeah," he replied. "We're getting extra assistance from the Pennsylvania State Police this week."
In a separate statement, organizers said they will continue to cooperate with the FBI's ongoing investigation into the assassination attempt, adding they and the surrounding region are working to "heal and move forward as a community."
Also on Sunday evening, a public vigil was held on the grounds, according to the Butler Eagle.
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Dan Schall, a minister from nearby Zelienople, joined Butler Trinity Lutheran Church Rev. Joel Benson to help lead the service.
Benson said the dozens that attended the vigil came together to "cleanse and reclaim the farm show grounds for its intended purpose," according to the paper.
With Butler County in the top half of Pennsylvania counties for agriculture production, the farm show will aim, as it always does, to highlight the area's agrarian heritage.
While both major political parties plan to staff kiosks at the fair, the actual exhibits will remain politics-neutral and there will not be any exhibit particularly geared toward Trump or his fateful appearance, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Pennsylvania has a long history of embracing its rich agricultural heritage on a local and commonwealth-wide level.
Many counties, like Butler, host local events, while the Department of Agriculture organizes what is the largest indoor agricultural fair in the United States every January.
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In his first Pennsylvania appearance since the Butler rally, Trump hosted a massive indoor event at that very Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg last week.
Trump quipped at the time that the large arena he spoke in – where rodeos, tractor square-dancing and Future Farmers of America events take place during the annual agricultural event – reminded him of Madison Square Garden.
Meanwhile, in Butler, the farm show organizers announced in a flyer on their website that they look forward to opening up fairground rides at 4 p.m. Monday, and presented a run-of-show for the day that includes hog showmanship, a log pull competition and a watermelon-eating contest.