Butler Farm Show director Ken Metrick, left, opens the opening vigil for the 2024 Butler Farm Show on Sunday, Aug. 4. William Pitts/Butler Eagle

CONNOQUENESSING TWP — As the saying goes, the show must go on. On Sunday evening, Aug. 4, hundreds packed into the Butler Farm Show grounds to fulfill an annual routine, just three weeks after tragedy struck those same grounds.

Less than a month after the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump during a campaign rally on July 13, the Butler Farm Show officially opened with the traditional public vigil, assisted this year by Zelienople minister Dan Schall, as well as Pastor Joel Benson from Trinity Lutheran Church in Butler.

“We're here tonight to come together to cleanse and reclaim the farm show grounds for its intended purpose,” Benson said.

The opening vigil is a tradition nearly as old as the farm show itself. But as longtime farm show director Ken Metrick indicated, this year’s vigil would be much different.

“We've been having this for many, many years on Sunday evening before the farm show, because we all know that we don't do this by ourselves and we want to give all the honor and glory to God,” Metrick said in his opening speech. “The farm show went through a little tough patch here a few weeks ago, so we're going to open this service a little differently.”

According to Metrick — who has been a part of the Farm Show board for 36 years — there was no consideration of canceling or even delaying the show after the shooting, as they had put in too much work to let it go to waste.

“We were planning this event a couple years ago, and we have hundreds of volunteers here,” Metrick said. “It's been a high point of the summer for a lot of people in our community, and ... the show goes on.”

Metrick said the board has already started planning out the 2025 and even the 2026 farm shows.

“We're actually planning for next year, and we actually have some things in place for 2026,” Metrick said.

In fact, if anything, Metrick said the tragedy of July 13 may have actually brought the community even closer together to support the show.

“We have the support of the community, and as you can see here tonight at the worship service, the building is packed,” Metrick said. “They're standing around the outside the building. The community supports the farm show, 100 percent.”

Naturally, the early part of the vigil was dominated by discussion of the attempted assassination, which grazed Trump’s right ear, caused injuries to two spectators, and fatally injured spectator Corey Comperatore before the shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, was taken out by a counter-sniper.

“As followers of Christ, we believe, and proclaim that death does not have the last word,” Benson said. “Neither does the brokenness or the pain or the hurt that occurred in this place. It does not get to have the last word because of Christ, our Savior, and His death and His resurrection.”

Benson was flanked by three other pastors: Tara Lynn of St. John's Lutheran Church in Connoquenessing Township; David Hicks of St. Peter’s Anglican Church; and Western Pennsylvania United Methodist Church Butler/Franklin district superintendent Deborah Ackley-Killian.

In the latter half of the vigil, Schall stepped on stage to deliver his unique blend of sermons and singing, starting off by leading the audience in a rendition of Lee Greenwood’s patriotic classic “God Bless The U.S.A.”

Local minister Dan Schall leads the audience in song during the opening vigil for the 2024 Butler Farm Show on Sunday, Aug. 4. William Pitts/Butler Eagle