Mud wasn't an insurmountable problem

& lt;a href=mailto:kubik@vindy.com & gt;By MARALINE KUBIK & lt;/a & gt;
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
CANFIELD -- for people going to the Canfield Fair, but event organizers could pay hefty costs.
Heavy rains that began Friday night, the third day of the six-day Canfield Fair, forced officials to close some of the on-site parking lots and direct fairgoers to alternative lots at the Mahoning County Career and Technical Center, Canfield High School and Middle School, and the Presbyterian and Old North churches.
Costs to shuttle fairgoers to and from those lots and to tow cars stuck in the mud have not yet been determined, but the fair board will cover them, said Chuck Booth, the director who oversees parking.
The shuttle began operating at 10 a.m. Saturday and ran until midnight. It continued to operate through the end of the fair, Booth said.
Buses and drivers were provided by Canfield schools.
"We haven't gotten the bill on that yet, but I'm sure it will include wages for the drivers, fuel and whatever else operating buses entails," Booth said.
"The shuttles worked out great," he added, "but it does cost the fair money."
For fairgoers who parked on-site and got their vehicles stuck in the mud, things also went pretty smoothly, Booth said.
The fair has a contract with Ludt's Towing, which had at least two trucks on the grounds at all times, he explained. "We told the kids directing traffic not to touch one car. If it gets stuck, call a tow truck. The No. 1 thing here is safety -- we didn't want anyone to get hurt."
Towing vehicles out of the mud is a free service the fair provides, Booth said. "We pay Ludt's per tow, and if they need more than two trucks on the grounds, they call more out.
"Years ago, we used tractors to pull people out," he added.
Ludt's will submit a bill based on the number of vehicles towed, Booth said; each must be documented with the driver's name and vehicle's license-plate number.
Despite improvements
The last time the fair was mired in mud because of heavy rains was about 1982, Booth said. Since then, many improvements have been made. "If we would have had a regular summer, parking would have been OK despite the rain. But the ground was already saturated," he said.
"We mowed on Wednesday, the first day of the fair, when there wasn't much traffic coming in, to try and dry it out. The ground was a little soft, but it was in good shape. On Friday, after the rain, we closed some of the lots and just parked cars on high ground. I don't know what else we could have done," Booth said. "If this happens again, we'll look at other options."
Downpours Monday evening soaked the unpaved parking lots even more, caused minor flooding along some of the midways, and prevented Vince Gill's band from using their electric instruments. Vince Gill's concert was the last performance of the 2003 Canfield Fair.