GEDDES - Lynda Bear couldn't say no to her 6-year-old daughter Laurann, who wanted to spend one of her last days of summer at the New York State Fair on Monday.
Jason Rearick / The Citizen
Alicia Keller, right, keeps control of a few pieces of wood as her sister, Melissa Keller, helps her pack the other equipment into their parents' trailer on the last day of the New York State Fair Monday evening. Alicia, from Corfu, showed 12 pigs at the fair.
Alicia Keller, right, keeps control of a few pieces of wood as her sister, Melissa Keller, helps her pack the other equipment into their parents' trailer on the last day of the New York State Fair Monday evening. Alicia, from Corfu, showed 12 pigs at the fair.
“She told me I had no choice, that we were going,” Lynda said with a chuckle. “I had to go.”
Lynda's arm didn't have to be twisted that much. The Auburn woman missed the fair last year, and didn't want to make it two years in a row.
And the mother and daughter did catch the fair, even if it was the final day.
“It's the last day and we figured it would be a good day,” she said.
It was for Laurann, who enjoyed the bungee jumping ride.
“You can do back flips and front flips and go way high,” she said.
Labor Day marked the end of the 12-day event. The fair wrapped up Monday with a total attendance of 936,399, just above last year's total of 934,387. The record for attendance came in 2001, when 1,011,248 turned out for the event..
“(The attendance) shows that, despite the economy and gas prices, we're doing spectacular,” said Dan O'Hara, fair
director. “It shares the message that the fair is affordable.”
“It's a wonderful opportunity to end the summer with families, and it's affordable,” he added.
O'Hara pointed to the weather as the main reason for the attendance and many vendors agreed.
“I honestly think that the days we saw lower attendance temperatures were in the lower 90s,” said Gary Raiti, a partner at the Colossal Sundae Center in the Dairy Products building, “and that probably has more to do with it than anything.”
Bill Martin, co-owner of Montezuma Winery based in Seneca Falls, also said that intense heat may have factored into less traffic.
“That kind of slows people down from going to an outdoor event,” he said.
Montezuma Winery made its first appearance at the state fair. They built a booth and invested in a slushy machine, and are committed to coming back again, no matter what attendance is like.
“We're optimistic about it,” Martin said. “We've had a good fair.”
George and Shirley Harris, of Syracuse, Cheryl Green of Syracuse, Geneva Hayden of Syracuse and Beverly Oliver, of LaFayette said they noticed fewer people at the fair on Monday than they had expected.
Perhaps that was because of Labor Day barbecues or vacations, they said.
“It's the economy for some families,” said Hayden. “Some things are so expensive here, especially the rides.”
Shirley Harris pointed to the investment families make for school clothes and supplies.
But none of these factors prevented this group of friends to have fun at the fair.
“I came here to eat and have fun and look around,” said George Harris. “I had a corn on the cob, a blooming onion, another corn on the cob.”
Crowds enjoyed the fair's traditional fixtures: from livestock to 4H to the butter sculpture. But the fair also tried something new this year, O'Hara said. The Pride of New York display featured agricultural products made in - where else? - New York.
This idea, O'Hara said, won over many people and will become a permanent fixture at the fair.
“We had a lot of people comment favorably,” he said. “It's great to showcase what's great about New York state.”
In the fall and winter, O'Hara will be evaluating this year's fair to see what can be done to make next year more successful. Already he has an idea: showcasing state businesses that many consumers aren't aware of, he said. Through this he is looking to highlight the “mutual benefit between business owners and consumers to help them identify what products exist in the great state of New York.”
Overall, he said, the fair was “extremely successful.”
“And it's not over yet,” he said with half of the final day left.
Staff writer Alyssa Sunkin can be reached at alyssa.sunkin@lee.net or 253-5311 ext. 239.
Attendance was ‘fair'
Total attendance at the close of each day at the state fair:
Day 2006 2007
Thurs, Aug. 23 66,613 54,658
Fri., Aug, 24 157,083 124,148
Sat., Aug, 25 235,138 184,437
Sun., Aug. 26 291,943 271,418
Mon., Aug, 27 363,090 348,651
Tues., Aug. 28 427,229 422, 966
Wed., Aug. 29 502,959 473,741
Thurs., Aug. 30 581,849 538,798
Fri., Aug. 31 684,652 641,234
Sat., Sept. 1 731,519 748,987
Sun., Sept. 2 828,119 849, 394
Monday, Sept. 3 934,387 936,399
Lynda's arm didn't have to be twisted that much. The Auburn woman missed the fair last year, and didn't want to make it two years in a row.
And the mother and daughter did catch the fair, even if it was the final day.
“It's the last day and we figured it would be a good day,” she said.
It was for Laurann, who enjoyed the bungee jumping ride.
“You can do back flips and front flips and go way high,” she said.
Labor Day marked the end of the 12-day event. The fair wrapped up Monday with a total attendance of 936,399, just above last year's total of 934,387. The record for attendance came in 2001, when 1,011,248 turned out for the event..
“(The attendance) shows that, despite the economy and gas prices, we're doing spectacular,” said Dan O'Hara, fair
director. “It shares the message that the fair is affordable.”
“It's a wonderful opportunity to end the summer with families, and it's affordable,” he added.
O'Hara pointed to the weather as the main reason for the attendance and many vendors agreed.
“I honestly think that the days we saw lower attendance temperatures were in the lower 90s,” said Gary Raiti, a partner at the Colossal Sundae Center in the Dairy Products building, “and that probably has more to do with it than anything.”
Bill Martin, co-owner of Montezuma Winery based in Seneca Falls, also said that intense heat may have factored into less traffic.
“That kind of slows people down from going to an outdoor event,” he said.
Montezuma Winery made its first appearance at the state fair. They built a booth and invested in a slushy machine, and are committed to coming back again, no matter what attendance is like.
“We're optimistic about it,” Martin said. “We've had a good fair.”
George and Shirley Harris, of Syracuse, Cheryl Green of Syracuse, Geneva Hayden of Syracuse and Beverly Oliver, of LaFayette said they noticed fewer people at the fair on Monday than they had expected.
Perhaps that was because of Labor Day barbecues or vacations, they said.
“It's the economy for some families,” said Hayden. “Some things are so expensive here, especially the rides.”
Shirley Harris pointed to the investment families make for school clothes and supplies.
But none of these factors prevented this group of friends to have fun at the fair.
“I came here to eat and have fun and look around,” said George Harris. “I had a corn on the cob, a blooming onion, another corn on the cob.”
Crowds enjoyed the fair's traditional fixtures: from livestock to 4H to the butter sculpture. But the fair also tried something new this year, O'Hara said. The Pride of New York display featured agricultural products made in - where else? - New York.
This idea, O'Hara said, won over many people and will become a permanent fixture at the fair.
“We had a lot of people comment favorably,” he said. “It's great to showcase what's great about New York state.”
In the fall and winter, O'Hara will be evaluating this year's fair to see what can be done to make next year more successful. Already he has an idea: showcasing state businesses that many consumers aren't aware of, he said. Through this he is looking to highlight the “mutual benefit between business owners and consumers to help them identify what products exist in the great state of New York.”
Overall, he said, the fair was “extremely successful.”
“And it's not over yet,” he said with half of the final day left.
Staff writer Alyssa Sunkin can be reached at alyssa.sunkin@lee.net or 253-5311 ext. 239.
Attendance was ‘fair'
Total attendance at the close of each day at the state fair:
Day 2006 2007
Thurs, Aug. 23 66,613 54,658
Fri., Aug, 24 157,083 124,148
Sat., Aug, 25 235,138 184,437
Sun., Aug. 26 291,943 271,418
Mon., Aug, 27 363,090 348,651
Tues., Aug. 28 427,229 422, 966
Wed., Aug. 29 502,959 473,741
Thurs., Aug. 30 581,849 538,798
Fri., Aug. 31 684,652 641,234
Sat., Sept. 1 731,519 748,987
Sun., Sept. 2 828,119 849, 394
Monday, Sept. 3 934,387 936,399
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