Mantua Potato Festival to go on, electrical issues still remain

The Mantua Potato Festival will go on, despite electrical issues that threatened to derail this year's event.

However, Andrea Selvaggio, chair of the Mantua Potato Festival, said the event might be scaled back because the festival committee needs to come up with more than $5,000 to rent generators to make the festival happen.

The festival, which is the first weekend after Labor Day, is scheduled for Sept. 6-8.

Electrical issue

In February, Village Administrator Ryan Klemm wrote a letter to Selvaggio, stating that the village had received correspondence from an electrical contractor about the state of 15 electrical boxes that the festival uses during the event.

"The condition of these boxes poses a serious danger of injury to persons if they should be utilized in their current state, and therefore a risk of liability not only to the Potato Festival organization, but also to the Village of Mantua," his letter stated. It goes on to advise the festival committee to "take all the steps necessary to have the defective boxes repaired" and to have those repairs inspected and approved by the Portage County Building Department.

Unless that is done, Klemm stated, he would recommend Mantua Village Council withhold approval of a permit for the festival, and prohibit the festival from using the park until the repairs are made and inspected.

Selvaggio said when the festival committee was asked to upgrade the electric, she did a deep dive into village council minutes. She learned that a team of volunteers affiliated with the festival donated electrical poles, and purchased and installed the panels needed to provide electricity. The infrastructure is not used outside the festival. She said there was a "gentleman's handshake" that the Potato Festival would maintain the grid.

Village Council's Finance Committee discussed the issue recently. Council member Kevin Maloney said he assured the festival association that the repairs are the village's responsibility.

However, Selvaggio said the Finance Committee sent the issue to the Service Committee, which won't meet until Aug. 6.

"This delay is concerning, given the urgent nature of the electrical issues and the limited time we have to address them before the festival," she told Mantua Village Council.

Meanwhile, the festival association will spend more than $5,000 to rent generators to make this year's festival happen.

"This extra expense places a significant burden on our budget, which is already stretched thin in our efforts to deliver a memorable event for our community," she said. "We now need to raise additional funds to pay for these generators, adding to our financial challenges. While this year’s festival is not going to be cancelled, we are deeply worried about the sustainability of next year’s festival if these electrical issues are not resolved."

Selvaggio said she found a grant that might help the village fix the electrical grid. However, the deadline is Aug. 1, before the next service meeting.

Potato festival history

The Mantua Potato Festival celebrated its 50th year in 2023, but the tradition dates back further to the days when area farmers supplied potato chip factories throughout the region.

Portage County, Selvaggio noted, has always been a rich agricultural area, and, at one time, railroad cars were shipped off, loaded with potatoes, which thrived in the sandy soil in Mantua, Shalersville and Hiram. Potato chip companies, she noted, thrived off the crops.

The first Mantua Potato Show took place in 1939, with a focus on potato production and a potato dinner made by the Mother's Club. The show was halted once World War II started, but resumed in 1973 thanks to the efforts of the Mantua Merchants Association.

The festival took place downtown until 1985, when a fire made it unsafe to hold the festival there. That's when the event was relocated to the park. At that time, Selvaggio said, the festival committee installed an electrical grid, which is used heavily over the three-day festival by food trucks and stage performers.

Reporter Diane Smith can be reached at 330-298-1139 or dsmith@recordpub.com.

This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Mantua Potato Festival to go on, electrical issues still remain