Frontier Days seen as success

CANYON COUNTRY — Frontier Days ended with a bang Sunday, with event organizers calling the 26th annual carnival and rodeo the most successful one ever.

Organizers said new exhibits, a family-oriented atmosphere and great weather allowed more people to enjoy the fair than ever before.

“I think at last count we had 37,000 (visitors) before today,” said Jack Watkins, president of the Canyon Country Chamber of Commerce, which sponsored the event. “We always get at least 25,000.”

Watkins, the fair’s overall chairman, credited early advertising and good weather with drawing people to the fair, with special efforts made this year to lure families in the community.

“We’ve got a lot more exhibits this year,” Watkins said. “We added artisans’ tents. It’s been the most popular attraction.”

Visitors to the tents, filled with arts and crafts made by people from the Santa Clarita and neighboring valleys, welcomed the new addition.

“I like (Frontier Days) much better than the previous year,” said Mariette Gendron of Canyon Country as she eyed some jewelry beneath the tent. “They didn’t have anything at all like (this).”

Other new attractions intended to lure families included a free mule ride and a boundary limiting alcohol consumption to the stage area.

On the stage, children and adults gasped as members of the California Gunfighters performed an old-fashioned shoot-out, complete with authentic costumes and thundering gunshots.

In other activities, children rode carnival rides and indulged in pizza-eating contests, much to the delight of their parents.

“This is a lot more. This is a lot better than it was two years ago,” said Germaine Miles of Saugus, who came with her husband, Ken, and two children, Kenny, 9, and Cassie, 5.

Meanwhile, adults lined up for rides of their own on a helicopter and enjoyed country-western music by singer Coni Lee.

“It’s a good place for the families to go as families,” said Lee, a Canyon Country resident.

But by far the most popular family attractions were the rodeo, held Friday and Saturday, and the tractor and truck pull, held Sunday afternoon, Watkins said.

Watkins wasn’t sure how much money the fair would raise for the chamber of commerce, but said that much of it goes to cover costs and to help organizations such as the Boy Scouts, which helped clean up the fairgrounds.

“We don’t really do it for monetary reasons,” Watkins said. “It’s just the business peoples’ way of saying, ‘Thanks for doing business with us.’”