Official ‘happy’ with attendance

By Ed Runyan | July 6, 2011 at 12:02a.m.

trumbull county fair

BAZETTA

At around 65,000, the paid attendance at this year’s Trumbull County Fair was about 3,000 higher than last year.

“Everything went perfectly — the attendance, the weather, the food. I’m really happy about the attendance this year,” fair board President Richard Roscoe said. The fair ended Monday.

The fair had attendance in the 80,000 range a few years in the early 1980s. The population was higher, and the fair attracted big-name entertainers. The fair has also seen years where the weather was bad, and 40,000 to 50,000 attended, Roscoe noted.

The fair had a streak of bad weather for quite a few years until recently but has had good weather the last two.

“It pays the bills, makes a few improvements,” Roscoe said of attendance the last two years.

Despite the successful fair this year, there’s always debate about the best time to have the event, Roscoe said.

There are those who don’t like the fair being over the July 4 holiday because they prefer to be at home with family over the holiday.

“Concessionaires like it over the Fourth of July. Some parents like it a week later,” Roscoe said.

This year’s Fourth of July finale on Monday did not attract a high volume of visitors — only about 5,500, compared to Sunday’s 15,000. Sunday was also the day for the most-watched event — the demolition derby, Roscoe said.

Jack Burbach of West Farmington, who has been bringing concession trailers to the fair for about 40 years, said his sales were above average this year because of the good weather and the holiday, but he can’t help himself from remembering the old days — when the area had more jobs.

“All I can say about the economy is we get no big bills,” Burbach said of $50 or $100 bills used to pay for food.

Burbach said he saw some at the Cortland Street Fair a week earlier, and that people used larger bills 20 years ago.

Burbach said he views the presence of $50 and $100 bills to be a sign that families “saved money to come to the fair,” he said.

Today, families focus much of their time on their kids’ baseball and soccer games, or they attend Mahoning Valley Scrappers games, he said.

“Twenty years ago, they had the fair. Now they have other things.”