Scott Williams, swilliams@wolfrivermedia.com
A stretch of near-perfect weather during the 2016 Shawano County Fair helped the fair achieve its best attendance level in recent memory.
Fair President Dale Hodkiewicz said attendance during the six-day event totaled 65,996 — about 3,000 more than the previous year.
Hodkiewicz said that while the county fair always enjoys strong support in the community, this year’s attendance is the best he can recall in 15 years or more.
“It just shows that the people in Shawano County support the fair,” he said. “It’s just wonderful.”
The event from Aug. 31 to Sept. 5 benefited from six consecutive days of mild temperatures and no rain, which was credited with boosting attendance, keeping livestock comfortable and creating a more relaxed atmosphere on the Shawano fairgrounds.
The increased turnstile activity meant a more successful fair not only for the Shawano Area Agricultural Society, which organizes the event, but also for area nonprofit groups that operate concessions stands there.
Greg Rusch, president of the Shawano Hockey League, said his organization’s food stand recorded about a 15 percent increase in revenue, with proceeds supporting the league’s activities and future improvements.
Although it was just the hockey league’s second year at the county fair, Rusch said he could sense that the pleasant weather conditions were bringing bigger crowds.
“You couldn’t ask for better weather,” he said. “That drove it.”
The attendance surpassing an average of 10,000 people a day also contributed to another successful year for Rainbow Valley Rides Inc., which operates the Ferris wheel and other carnival-style attractions on the midway.
Joe Kedrowicz, owner of Rainbow Valley Rides, said that his company’s ridership numbers seemed on par, more or less, with previous years at the county fair. He agreed that the weather conditions brought out robust crowds and made the event successful.
“It was a good run,” he said.
The private agricultural society has not yet compiled revenue totals from the fair, which charges $5 for daily gate admission for adults or children 12 or older.
Hodkiewicz said revenues were higher, too, and the proceeds would allow his nonprofit organization to address some badly needed maintenance work on facilities at the fairgrounds.
“We’ve got a long list of things,” he said. “Maybe now we can start to work on them.”