This week marks the 77th annual Butler Farm Show, and this year, there’s a new and meaningful statue greeting people as they arrive.
Now, right behind the gate stands a life-sized bronze statue of Corey Comperatore, as his family remembers him.
It’s much more than a statue; it’s a symbol of someone who sacrificed himself for his family and community.
The statue shows Comperatore wearing his wedding ring, a casual shirt, and boots. It’s personalized, with the statue holding two bracelets with his daughter’s names in one hand and a Bible in the other.
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The Buffalo Township volunteer firefighter died shielding his wife and daughters during the assassination attempt on Donald Trump last July.
Butler Farm Show board of directors president, Ken Laughlin, said Comperatore seemed like a “down-to-earth family guy.”
“(The statue) reminds me of the day everything happened here,” said Laughlin, who was there on July 13, 2024,” he said. “The whole (Butler Farm Show) show’s pretty special, but this statue up front here was donated by the Comperatore family.”
Even though Corey Comperatore is gone, he remains at the fairgrounds in spirit and bronze.
“It reminds me of patriotism,” Laughlin said, looking at the statue. “It’s a good thing for Butler to come and see and be able to heal from.”
“I’m glad to be able to go see it today,” Butler Farm Show goer Sandy McGinnis said. “It’s hard to comprehend (what happened).”
This is a statue for his family and everyone who visits the farm show grounds.Â
“The Butler Farm Show is a family organization, we promote family values and Corey was a family man,” said Laughlin.
This year, Butler Farm Show Inc. started a community outreach program to donate to local fire companies and other organizations that help the community. They set those funds aside with the hope of donating $10,000 each year.
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