Fairgoers got their fix at the 166th—Allegan County Fair that is—where some got their fix with deep-fried fair food and death-defying rides.
The midway carnival, by Skerbeck Entertainment of Fennville, set a new record for ticket sales up 22 percent from 2017. The last day of the fair on Saturday, Sept. 15, was also a record for the most ticket sales in one day.
This year’s new ride was Top Gun, which strapped riders to the ends of what looked like a turbine blade and gave it few spins. The ride is the only one of its kind in Michigan.
“I could feel the G-forces pulling on me and my stomach rising up,” said Jamie Lomashewich of Dorr. Seated next to her, Mark Trueax said it went up in the air fast, stopped, and when it came back down he thought he was going to hit the ground.
“It gets your adrenaline rushing, that’s for sure,” Trueax said.
Fair manager Saree Miller said it was a great year for everything.
“It went smooth, we kept up with traffic and the weather could not have been better.”
While overall attendance didn’t break the 300,000 mark set in 2015, it was up 4 percent over last year at 279,481.
Over in the 4-H livestock barn, the auction was down 14 percent at $603,000, on the heels of an all-time record high in 2017 of $698,000.
“Actually, we figure we were down like 10-percent because the Geurink Memorial was around $36,000 last year,” said 4-H coordinator Dian Liepe. That memorial was for 4-H supporter Bob Geurink of A & B Farms who died in a machine accident.
A total of 23 animals were donated this year through the Grand Champion Giving program, up from last year’s 17.
In its second year, donors gave 17 hogs, two steers, three goats and 1 lamb to the program. After a month to process and ship the meat to the Hungry for Christ warehouse in Hamilton it will then be distributed among the Allegan County Food Pantry Collaborative’s 16 local pantries for families in need.
“We’re very happy,” said Tracey Robrahn, the collaborative’s resource coordinator. “We’ll just keep building on this and getting the word out about this; it’s just such a great opportunity and a win-win. People get to support a child in 4-H and feed families.”
Katrina Tucker of Hopkins was named Overall Top Showman on the last day of the fair. Tucker, also an FFA member, was the Reserve Top Showman in 2017. This year’s Reserve Top Showman was Morgan Sturman.
Coming in number one in grandstand entertainment was Pentatonix. Southern Uprising, although missing the Marshall Tucker Band, came in a close second.
“Someone in the band came down sick and they couldn’t make it,” Miller said. “We offered refunds for tickets but only about 20 groups took us up on that.”
Travis Tritt and the Charlie Daniels Band took over the uprising and gave concert-goers their money’s worth. 5 Seconds of Summer had a lighter crowd but was just as fun, Miller said.
In local talent, the Allegan County “Show Us Your Talent” winner was “yo-yo meister” Gavin Hubner of Grand Haven. Second place went to Aubrianna Lance and third to Larissa London.
In the agriculture barn, there was no 918-pound pumpkin like last year when John Haluch of Martin entered the gigantic gourd. He said the hot weather cracked this year’s entry but his 168-pound monster watermelon took a first place ribbon.
The Allegan County Fair Parade named Haircuts 404 the Best of Show for their float featuring a rolling hair salon, complete with hairdryers and curlers.
Plans are already underway for next year’s 167th Allegan County Fair.
Editor Ryan Lewis contributed to this story.
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