FAIR DIGEST || Four-day attendance 10% lower than 2009

Four-day attendance 10% lower than 2009

Canfield

The chilly weather Saturday morning kept attendance down until late afternoon.

The attendance was 73,926. Saturday attendance in 2009 was 78,965.

Timm Schreiber, board member, said the colder weather Saturday, rain showers Friday and 90-degree temperatures on Wednesday and Thursday have kept attendance slightly lower than average.

“We’re down about 10 percent from where we were last year,” he said. “But I think with the crowds [Sunday and Monday] we can catch up to get where we need to be.

The four-day total attendance is 179,759.

Tractor-pull proposal

CAnfield

For one local couple, Saturday’s truck and tractor pull was pure romance.

Jeremy Hartman, 24, of Austintown and Marissa Sternburg, 18, of Ellsworth met at last year’s event and began dating.

After a year together, Hartman decided he wanted to propose, so he enlisted the help of friend Harvey Crowley, also of Austintown.

“He wanted to do it at the 4-H barn,” Crowley said. “But I convinced him to let me take care of it.”

Crowley said he and Fair Board Director Craig Myers put their heads together and came up with a plan to have Hartman propose to Sternburg on the track inside the grandstand.

“She thought she was getting called down for a special 4-H award,” Crowley said.

Hartman said he thought he’d be nervous leading up to the big moment.

“It was less nerve-wracking than I thought,” he said. “She had no clue I was going to propose, but she had been hinting here and there about a ring.”

Sternburg said the proposal was perfect.

“I love him, and I’m glad he proposed,” she said. “It was very romantic and cute. It was perfect.”

Clean-coal technology

Canfield

Representatives from American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity will visit the fairgrounds from 5:30 to 9 p.m. today.

Representatives from the Virginia-based nonprofit organization will walk around the grounds handing out information to fair-goers about clean-coal technology projects.

First-year 4-H champ

Canfield

In his first year of 4-H, Nathan Millison took Reserve Champion for market lamb Thursday evening.

Nathan, 9, of Greenford, is a member of Pines Lakes 4-H Club and said he was surprised that he won.

“I heard everybody screaming for me,” he said. “Let’s just say I was happy.”