Kidron community celebrates annual Kidron Days
Karen Wald and her 3-year-old granddaughter Athena did the 1-mile fun run for Kidron Days.
The Kidron community came together June 12-14 for Kidron Days.
“The yard sales and the run were an exceptionally good turnout, with the 2025 yard sales having the most listings ever,” said Jacob Troyer, president of Kidron Council.
Yard sales kicked off the weekend, with a benefit meal on Friday night supporting Lillian Wengerd and Rachel Baus. Baus was able to attend the meal with her family.
“It was a fun evening,” Baus said. “It was nice to see so many familiar and unfamiliar faces.”
Baus was able to return to work full-time as an accountant at Weaver Leather after Memorial Day.
“I’m usually pretty exhausted come Friday,” Baus said. “My work allows me to work half a day in office and the other half at home — that way I can take a nap if needed.”
Troyer hopes to add something to the benefit meal next year, with possibly a game of some kind.
Runners lined up Saturday morning for the 1-mile fun run and the 5k.
“We would like to thank Kidron Auction for allowing the use of the building for the last four years and the land owner for letting us run across their land,” Troyer said.
The 5k race had an equal mix of Amish and English male and female runners. Kaden Hilty from Wooster won with 17:20, and Carson Steiner from Kidron was a close second place with 17:56.
“It was a beautiful morning that we got to be with our community,” Steiner said. “It’s such a cool event that shows exactly what Kidron is about. A bunch of local companies generously donate time and money to invest in the community. It was a lot of fun to race against a bunch of other talented runners. The last mile was through a bunch of fields, which is an amazing way to end a race.”
Jess Stutzman from Dalton was the first female finisher across the line at 21:45.
“I love the course and how it is road and some country route,” Stutzman said. “It was a very humid day so made for a challenge and using some grit. It wasn’t an easy win. There was another fast woman who passed me 2 miles in, and I didn’t catch her until the last 0.2 miles.”
Julie Varner from Apple Creek was her main competitor, coming in second at 21:52.
Troyer has run over 835 miles this year, has competed in lots of other races and probably would’ve been in the top 40, but he didn’t run the race so he could keep everything flowing smoothly. Troyer plans to bring back the 10k race next year.
The Kidron Council and Kidron Merchants work together to plan the weekend event. The dates for the 2026 Kidron Days are June 11-13.