We're thrilled because everyone who experienced and participated in this fair had a lot of “Saddle Up for Fun" enjoyment! We celebrated our "horse" theme throughout the fairgrounds from our rodeo, horse show and stick horse races to our feature exhibit and entry categories.

We introduced our smashing new trailer races to Grandstand spectators and offered up several new attractions including our first Christian music headliner, the Gran Jaripeo three-hour extravaganza in the Grandstand, the Great American Petting Zoo, All Alaskan Racing Pigs and Pedal Tractor Pulls, the Cutest Cowgirl/Cowboy Contest, Hypnotist Terry Stokes, Mercy Medical Center Seniors' Day and the Seniors' Day Expo, amateur wine divisions, a walking puppet theatre and new food including Legendairy Gelato and chocolate dipped bacon!

The fair was shortened by one day to five, starting on Wednesday instead of Tuesday to stretch budgets and save on expenses such as security, salaries, electricity and maintenance.

The unaudited 2011 fair attendance total for paid and unpaid attendance for the five-day fair is 61,680, down about 4.5% compared to the 2010 fair attendance total of 66,523. Paid attendance for the 2011 fair is 42,419, down from 2010, when paid attendance was 46,679 for the six-day fair.

"People really seemed to be having lots of fun," said the Fair's CEO Tom Musser. "There were a lot of new attractions, a lot of exciting things to do, and everyone worked hard to put on a quality fair.

"However, people are still struggling in this economy. These are challenging times. The fair had to make some tough financial decisions such as cutting one day from the fair. While we offered discounts and specials, even then some folks in our community just didn't have the money to go to the fair this year."

But the fair did get a break with the weather. The seasonably warm temperatures and comfortable evenings made a trip to the fair much more inviting than when it's too hot. And it makes it a lot easier on 4-H and FFA exhibitors, their families and their animals.

Our community continues to rediscover our fair and finds that’s its clean, safe and fun family-oriented entertainment with something for everyone that’s a great value.

We’re always looking for ways to make the next fair even better and had lots to offer fairgoers this year. We judged 8,799 entries including 4-H rocketry, FFA ag mechanics welding, beadwork, gardens, wine, ceramics, canned fruit, woodworking, a biscuits and gravy cooking contest, advanced photography and kids’ arts and crafts and more.

At the Junior Livestock Auction, 547 pigs, lambs, beef and goats were sold for a total of $384,149, a jump from the 2010 auction sales total of $368,349. Our 4-H, FFA and Independent exhibitors did a great job and continue to enjoy outstanding community support despite our challenging economy.

Fairgoers packed the Outdoor Theatre for the Lincoln Brewster concert on Opening Day, The Charlie Daniels Band's show and the Morris Day and The Time's performance. The Grandstand events continue to draw a crowd. Our new and improved Speedway brought back Auto Races to Opening Day for the first time in several years and the Trailer Races – a version of Demo Derby with boats and trailers – were an instant smash!

The fair offered more attractions than ever to fairgoers for their admission dollars. We had our first ever Mercy Medical Center Seniors' Day and the Seniors' Day Expo, giving seniors 65 and better $2 off admission. Our Kids’ Day promotion drew thousands of kids 12 and under, who got free admission. There were dozens of hands-on arts and crafts and science activities, artists’ demonstrations and a variety of music and dance shows at the smaller stages.

We kicked off the fair with the Junior Horse Show, gave tours to 722 kids in preschools and summer and Scouting programs, conducted 10 “Day of” cooking contests for seniors and juniors, hosted a blood drive and 1,300 special needs youngsters and adults and seniors from convalescent homes, plus volunteers, participated in our annual “Friends Helping Friends” event.

We’re proud to offer a growing number and variety of quality attractions for fairgoers to enjoy. We’re already looking ahead to the 2012 fair. We'd like to hear from the community to let us know what we can do to make the 2012 fair the best entertainment value and showcase of our county and the people who live here.