County fair ends on soggy note

CELINA - Drought conditions ruled Mercer County and the region - until fair time came.

The week saw steady rain, spotty rain, heavy rain, sprinkles and occasionally a little sunshine to welcome fairgoers.

However, aside from the precipitation, fair manager Cara Muhlenkamp reported a successful week.

"The only issue was just the rain that dampened things," she said. "When we didn't have rain, we had good crowds, pleasant people and everything went well."

The rain's effects could have been worse, she added. The only events canceled at the grandstand were the Michindoh Truck and Tractor Pulls on Saturday and the high school band show Thursday night. Other events, even the harness racing, went on with the occasional modification due to wet grounds.

"The track was good. We were able to get on there and proceed as normal," Muhlenkamp said.
Electronic scoreboards were affected and the grandstand area became very muddy during the week, but spectators were most inconvenienced by the areas of thick mud in the parking areas. Some parking spots became difficult to enter and even tougher to exit, Muhlenkamp said.

"We had several cars and trailers we had to pull out from the grounds, and we're just trying to make the best of it," she said. "We're busy cleaning up right now and putting things back together. It has definitely taken a lot of time this week to repair things and get them put back together throughout the grounds."

The cloudbursts definitely left a mark on the fair's attendance. Certainly, rain is nothing new at the Mercer County Fair. Muhlenkamp noted having an entire day rained out was not unusual, but dealing with the rain and its complications for an entire week was a rare occurrence.

"Attendance was definitely down due to the rain, but it was not unexpected based on weather conditions," she said. "Still we had many bright spots. Our concert did an outstanding job. We were very pleased with it, that's for sure. The rodeo was another good one. Also the straw-stacking, mule races and harness racing."

Muhlenkamp thanked the people for weathering the rain to keep the tradition alive.

"Thank you to the community for the cooperation in still coming out, with the grounds being so soggy. Thank you for your patience and understanding." she said.

Grounds cleanup is top priority today. Organizers will then turn their attention to the 2017 fair.

Auction results delayed:

Mercer County Junior Fair livestock auction results were not available today as organizers had to turn off computers used to record the information due to heavy rain.

Results and photos of the winners will appear as soon as they are available.