Marion County Fair Board President Doug Telford feels the just completed county fair was successful despite the large amount of rain that flooded the fairground at times and provided parking challenges.
Telford says things would not have ended as well without the strong showing of community support. He’s especially appreciative of Meador Brothers Trucking and the Orchard Shopping Center for allowing their parking lots to be used as alternative parking to the extremely muddy fairgrounds. Telford says Salem Community High School and South Central School District then came to their aid in providing small busses and drivers to use to shuttle fairgoers into the fairground. Antique Power Days then provided two additional shuttles while Marion County ESDA helped get fairgoers to the right location for parking. Telford says others who own property around the fairgrounds also assisted in allowing parking on their property. He says the fair staff tried to make it around all off location parking areas to clean up any trash left behind.
Telford feels they were able to manage the impact of the heavy rains during most of the week on the midway.
“Once the people were able to get on the grounds we had good crowds. The food vendors and carnival was happy at the end of the week. We had to go through mud and water but at the end of the week we all felt we had a successful week at the fair. It’s just weather we have never experienced.”
Despite the weather, only one event had to be canceled, the Monday night ITPA tractor pull. The Motocross was cut short when heavy rains arrived and the Ruby Leigh show was delayed Sunday night by extremely heavy rains that flooded the midway and shutdown the carnival for the night. Many attended Kids Day in the rain, an event that was extended an hour once the rain stopped. The queen contest was delayed an hour to make sure the potential severe weather on Tuesday night had left before fairgoers arrived.
Fair Board Secretary Kirk Wilkins felt the first year of online ticket sales went extremely well and was flawless for those using the system. He feels fairgoers will feel more comfortable utilizing the online platform to purchase tickets in future years.
