GOSHEN —
The mood was different in the fair’s livestock barns this year.
"Everybody was really nervous about the economy" during the 2009 Elkhart County 4-H fair, county Extension Director Jeff Burbrink said. Nobody knew how bad the downturn was going to be, or how long it was going to last. He said the feeling was more upbeat this time around.
"You could feel it all week," Burbrink said. "It was just a really nice undertone."
If Friday’s livestock auction is any indication, that feeling wasn’t off-base.
The sale pulled in $870,031.33. That amount was second only to 2007’s $941,983, the only year the auction topped the $900,000 mark. Friday’s auction was also up $100,000 from the 2009 sale.
A few sales records were notched Friday. Miles Kritzman of Goshen saw his grand champion steer sell for a record $15.75 per pound. The grand champion barrow owned by Cameron Riley of Goshen went for a record $38 per pound. And the swine auction had a banner year, too, topping the previous record of $213,663 — by a whopping $1.25.
"To me, it felt like this community is really starting to turn a corner," Burbrink said of the auction. "Things are starting to come back a little bit."
Burbrink wasn’t the only one sounding a positive tone about the fair Saturday, the final day of the event.
Fair queen Elise Goodman told the Fair Board this past week has been one of the most tiring and stressful of her life — and one of the best.
"It’s been my life’s honor," she said.
Senior Queen Marvene Pippenger described the Fair Board as being "a well-oiled machine."
"Wouldn’t it be something if the whole world worked together like the Fair Board does?," she said.
Apparently midway rides are still a popular fair component. Danny Houston, chief operations officer for North American Midway Entertainment, that heading into Friday, ride revenue at the fair was up 2 percent over 2009.
Paid gate admission for the 2010 fair has been off a bit. However, fairgoers turned out in force Thursday. Fair president Ted Sautter said 8,000 of their vehicles were parked at the fairgrounds that day.
Gate admissions director Sharon Wogoman said Thursday’s paid gate was the best since Thursday of the 2005 fair.
‘It’s been great’
Looking back over fair week, Sautter said the event met his hopes and expectations. "I think it’s been great," he said.
Sautter time at the helm included the Lady Antebellum fair show. Fair officials expected a large crowd and planned accordingly in terms of parking, admission, security, etc.
The system worked, in Sautter’s view. He wondered, though, whether advance publicity about the event — and how fair officials were preparing for it — may have deterred some fairgoers from coming out the day of the show. Sautter had expected more of the fairgrounds parking areas to be used.
"But we prepared for the worst," he said, later adding, "I’d rather act rather than react."
Lady Antebellum’s audience packed the grandstands and filled the track seating. The night of the concert, Sautter put attendance at around 12,000.
Sautter also said preparing for a large crowd, and where to put their vehicles, came in handy later in the week.
"It’s a good thing we prepared for Lady Antebellum, or we wouldn’t have had room to put everyone (Thursday)," he said.
"Overall, it’s been a good fair, as far as I’m concerned," Sautter said. "We’ve got a lot of community involvement and a lot of good sponsors."
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