It was almost a record.
Now that the dust has settled at the Wayne County Fairgrounds, the numbers have been tallied — and the 2010 Wayne County Fair almost shattered an attendance record set back in 2006.
“To get eight out of nine days that it doesn’t rain, we had a great fair,” said Roger Dirlam, president of the fair. “We were 800 people away from crushing the record.”
Fair officials said 93,083 people went through the gate this year, about 7 percent more than the 87,190 in 2009. The fair record was 93,825 in 2006.
The mark could have been shattered over the nine-day period, but a downpour Thursday knocked figures down off the average 10,343 daily figure by about 7,000 to 3,076 fairgoers.
The fair count was: 9,743 for opening day Friday; 16,527 Saturday; 12,657 Sunday; 9,127 Monday; 7,512 Tuesday; 10,581 Wednesday, 3,076 Thursday (when it rained); 9,845 Friday and 14,015 on the fair’s final day on Saturday.
There was at least one mishap: Nicole Phillips, an 18-year-old Western Wayne High School graduate, died after becoming sick following her turn on a ride. Her family is disputing her death.
Dirlam said that the revenue generated by the fair will be used to pay off capital improvement projects, such as a new horse barn and a new blacktop for handicapped parking put in in 2008.
