By Paula Pyzik Scott

Football fans are found around the globe. But only in Ada, Ohio can you find the home of the official NFL football, used in every game and in every Super Bowl. On August 23, the Ada Area Chamber of Commerce threw a big party celebrating that fact: the Made In Ada Wilson Football Festival. Many traditions have been developed over the nine-year history of the event and two new contests spiced up the evening.

Depot Park was filled with live music, a wide variety of food choices, activities for adults and children, chances to win Wilson footballs and raffle prizes, and scores of football fans. In an unscientific t-shirt poll, the Ada Bulldogs and ONU Polar Bears were local favorites, followed by a pretty even split of Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals fans, as well supporters of the Detroit Lions, Denver Broncos, Dallas Cowboys, Pittsburgh Steelers, Iowa State, Michigan State and Clemson.

Two new twists were featured at the 2025 festival: a hot wings eating contest and a beer stein holding contest. Eleven male contestants lined up to test their speed and stomachs with hot wings specially prepared by Ada’s Midwest BBQ Catering & More. They were given a maximum of 15 minutes to clean the bones of 10 hot wings. In the stein holding contest, 12 men held up large glass steins filled with beer from Ada’s Old Route 69 Brewery for as long as they could.

CONTEST WINNERS

• Wings - Alex Sanderford
• Beer Stein - Bill England 

Emcee A.J. Hatem, who had a great view of the festival from the OhioHealth stage, said that the festival has come a long way since it was conceived as a somewhat chilly Super Bowl celebration. He emphasized that the event is a big community effort made possible by numerous sponsors and businesses that provide people power, activities and space for the event.

Hatem introduced players from Ada youth football programs and encouraged all to attend their games, which are most often played on Sundays from 12-4:00 p.m. The next home games are on September 14.