The Ohio Department of Commerce will feature beanie babies, fire safety and unclaimed funds at the Ohio State Fair from Friday, August 7 through Sunday, August 23 from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. The display will be located in the southwest corner of the Marketplace Building (formerly the Bricker Building). More than 52,000 Ohioans visited the Department of Commerce's State Fair display last year.

"The Commerce display offers something for everyone in the family," said Donna Owens, Director of the Ohio Department of Commerce. "The children can participate in hands-on fire safety programs, while parents can check for unclaimed funds. Both will enjoy our beanie baby display."

The Division of Industrial Compliance's Bedding and Upholstered Furniture Section will feature "Beanie Babies: The Inside Story". This display, which will showcase about 40 beanie babies, will describe how the Bedding and Upholstered Furniture Section protects the public’s safety by testing the filler material used in stuffed animals, bedding and upholstered furniture. A representative sample of beanie babies sold in Ohio undergo chemical and physical tests performed at the section’s testing laboratory in Cambridge.

The Division of State Fire Marshal will offer children an opportunity to practice the combined "Crawl Under Smoke" and "Know Two Ways Out" fire safety program. This exercise is designed to teach children that smoke rises and that it is important to crawl near the floor in order to escape the smoke. After the children touch a heated door, they will crawl under a fictitious cloud of smoke and choose a second means of escape by climbing through a window.

At the department's stage area, several kitchen stove safety presentations will be performed every day by Division of State Fire Marshal fire safety educators. In addition, the Division of State Fire Marshal's arson dogs -- Carla and Harvey -- will perform several demonstrations at the department's stage during the first two weekends of the Fair.

"I also encourage fairgoers to stop by our Division of Unclaimed Funds' 'Treasure Hunt' to check to see if they might be the recipient of any lost or forgotten money," Director Owens said.

Division of Unclaimed Funds' employees will check their computer database to determine if the fairgoer has an unclaimed funds account. Common sources of these funds include dormant checking and savings accounts, forgotten rent and utility deposits, uncashed checks, undelivered stock certificates, uncashed insurance policies, forgotten layaway deposits, and safe deposit box contents. Currently, there are approximately 1.8 million accounts totaling almost $180 million. During last year's Fair, the Unclaimed Funds section checked 26,355 names and located $356,996 of unclaimed funds belonging to current or former Ohioans.

The Department of Commerce enforces regulations regarding industrial compliance, fire codes, financial institutions, securities, real estate, liquor, auctioneers, and unclaimed funds, among others. The Department's internet address is www.com.state.oh.us.