Rain doesn’t deter attendance
Attendance at the 133rd Shawano County Fair stayed brisk, despite rain hitting the area over the last few days.
Brad Luepke, fair marketing and promotions director, said the rain only impacted some scheduled events, such as the Enduro races Friday night and the last night of the 2014 Shawano Speedway season on Saturday. Monday morning’s thunderstorm actually helped out one event — the demolition derby scheduled for 1 p.m.
Luepke said Sunday saw heavy attendance to the point that the fair was turning people away because its parking lots were full.
Vendors in the commercial building informed Luepke that they did very good business during the fair, he said. The vendors reported profits either being flat or increasing over previous years, he said.
Scavenger hunt fun new addition
The county fair put social media to good use this past week, with a scavenger hunt daily reported on the fair’s Facebook page. Officials placed stuffed animals in various buildings around the fair each morning and encouraged visitors to find the animals for gift certificates and various prizes.
Participation was high, according to Brad Luepke, marketing and promotions director.
“It was huge. Holy cow!” Luepke said, adding that some treasure seekers arrived at the fairgrounds early some mornings to get a head start on the search.
Youth pumpkins show creativity
Visitors to the junior fair building might have noticed a display of pumpkins near the main entrance.
The Patty Pumpkin Seed Project is an annual project conducted by Shawano County 4-H Leaders Inc. and Shawano County Home and Community Education. South Forty in Shawano provided pumpkin seeds to every first-grade student in the county to teach them about how things grow.
Among the more creative entries was a pumpkin painted metallic silver and included with other metal items to recreate the Tin Woodsman from L. Frank Baum’s “The Wizard of Oz.” Other decorated entries included a pumpkin with a green and gold cap and scarf made to look like a Green Bay Packers fan, a pumpkin painted white and made to look like Hello Kitty, and one painted black with bunny ears.
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