The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Full fair brings plenty of flair
Attendance jumps, as do livestock sales
As Lake County Fair week came to an end, locals were once again able to enjoy the full fair experience after a year off due to the pandemic — and they did so in droves.
“It has been phenomenal,” said Lake County Fair Board President Wade Crofoot. “Our numbers are way up. We broke daily records. We haven’t really hit our weekly record, but we might come close.”
Crofoot attributed the large turnout to how much people missed being able to come to the fair, which is a yearly tradition for many families, and the fact that over this year and last there have not been too many other big outdoor events.
The 4-H livestock auction event on July 31 also broke the previous sales records, Crofoot said.
“I think our record was $193,000 or $197,000, and we did over $280,000, which is fantastic,” he said. “So the companies are out there spending the money, too.
“It’s good for a small fair like us.”
The only way this fair differed noticeably from the pre-pandemic fair was a slight reduction in carnival rides, Crofoot said, but people seemed to enjoy the rides that were available, adding there were few complaints. He said that the operators encountered some issues in getting the rides approved or inspected because of COVID-19-related delays, and he hopes to see a couple more come back next year.
The many food and craft vendors, however, made a strong return despite all of the challenges small businesses faced over the past year.
“They came back real well,” Crofoot said. “A lot of them were having a hard time and really struggling last year, but most of them carried over their contracts that we had with them for the 2020 fair for this year’s fair.”
Many of those vendors certainly were happy to be back, as well. Geri Ferguson, who helped run the Pap’s Kettle Korn stand, said it was nice to see all of the smiling faces again.
“Business has been great,” Ferguson said.” I’m glad to see all the people are back,”
Pap’s Kettle Korn — owned by Lori Ferguson, Geri’s daughter — is a Mentor-based company that has been participating in the county fair for more than 15 years.
“We’re seeing a lot of old friends we haven’t seen in quite a while, you know. I has been great,” she added.
The 4-H community also made a strong return, bringing with them plenty of projects, livestock and a well-missed spirit of competition. Some of the older 4-H youth, such as 18-yearold Lydia Schafer of Madison, were grateful the fair was able to return this year as they prepare to age out of the 4-H program.
“I’ve been doing fairs and 4-H for 11 years,” she said. “This is my last one.
“With this summer, I hadn’t showed for like two years, since the last — so I had to get back in the swing of things.”
She and her horse Jack competed in Western and English pleasure — with the English category being their highlight of the week. Schafer said that she, Jack and her “coronavirus project,” a 2-yearold horse named Reid, actually were assigned stalls in the same fair barn that she started in more than a decade ago.
“It’s kind of nice to end like this,” she said, “finishing exactly where I started.”