Despite deluge, Gage County Fair ends on 'bright note'

Rain threw a kink into the schedule, and it ran a little longer than normal, but none of that put a damper on this year’s Gage County Fair.

“The fair couldn’t have went any smoother, despite the 10 hours of rain,” Fair Board President Roger Henrichs said.

The rain hit Thursday night, causing the Eric Church concert to be canceled and creating a muddy fairgrounds that caused Friday’s horse show events to be pushed back.

“Friday, I was amazed how the people came back out,” Henrichs said.

Parking permits for this year’s fair, the only measure of attendance for the fair, totaled 27,657, he said. That’s down a little from last year, when 29,924 permits were sold.

“That’s without Thursday, which would have been almost another 4,000-5,000,” Henrichs said.

The biggest draw at the grandstand was Sunday evening’s Night of Destruction.

“Last night (Sunday) we had a great turnout,” Henrichs said.

The event drew a total paid attendance of 1,700, he said, and estimated total attendance at around 2,000 with the children.

“We look for that to grow as we look forward to next year,” Wiegand said.

Henrichs said the races on Saturday night went well, with a paid attendance of 1,253.

Friday’s Emerson Drive concert drew 1,364, while Tracy Lawrence’s performance on Wednesday drew 1,540.

“They were both comparable to last year,” Wiegand said.

All in all, the fair went well.

“This is probably the smoothest it’s gone in years,” Henrichs said.

He said the 4-H shows went well.

“Last night (Sunday) the breakaway roping guys weren’t done until 1 a.m.,” Henrichs said. “They crammed three days into two and got it done.”

Overall, the animal shows went well, Gage County Extension Educator Paul Hay said.

“It was very good,” he said.

Hay said there are some trends in the shows, with larger animals such as dairy and market beef shows seeing smaller numbers of participants, while smaller animal projects are increasing in participants.

“The shows went very well, and with the horse show we were able to work around Thursday’s downpour,” he said.

Gage County 4-H Program Assistant Jane Esau said exact numbers of participants at the various 4-H shows are not available yet.

“The numbers were probably down,” she said.

But, Esau said, there were a lot of good displays in the 4-H building and around the fairgrounds.

The dedication of the new restroom and concessions stand at the horse arena also came together on Sunday, after rain caused the event to be postponed, she said.

Youths on hand to help with the cleanup at the fairgrounds on Monday indicated they enjoyed this year’s fair.

“I wish it could be a little longer,” Jared Spang, 9, of Cortland said.

He said the highlight of the fair was showing his four hogs.

“I will miss it. I can’t wait for next year,” Jayni Zvolanek, 16, of Wymore said.

She said she showed cattle at the fair and enjoys the opportunity to see all her hard work pay off when she steps into the show ring.

“And it’s fun to win sometimes,” Zvolanek said.

Ashley Probst, 15, of Odell said the fair went by really fast.

“It was a lot of fun to see all my friends again,” she said.

Showing their animals was a common highlight among the youths, and those projects are important for youths to be involved with, Hay said.

“Why are animal projects important? Young people learn to care for something, something beyond themselves,” he said. “Even short-term projects like broilers are great. They teach kids responsibility for taking care of something.”

Esau said the volunteer support at the fair was great.

“The volunteers were out there anytime we needed them, both youth and adults,” she said. “We couldn’t do this without them.”

Esau said everyone worked really well together, and on a bright note for the future the peewee showmanship events drew great numbers.

“That’s a great sign for the future,” she said. “I hope everyone had a good time, we did.”