With numerous funnel cakes eaten, dozens of cars crushed and countless pairs of boots covered in – hopefully – mud, the Monroe County Fair has once again come to a close.

From strong attendance to fairer weather than last year, Monroe County Fair Association President Don Schrader had excellent things to say about how the past week was at the fairgrounds.

“It was a great week with the weather, attendance,” Schrader said. “We couldn’t have ordered it better. We had great crowds. Entries were very good.”

On the weather, Schrader said the only big impact rain seemed to have come amid the Saturday showers, with the main tractor pull’s attendance being cut down slightly from last year.

Also of note, Sunday’s FFA Fun Night was forced into the cattle barn due to rain stretching into Sunday, leaving the main arena less than welcoming to the straw bale toss and other events.

Schrader also spoke to the weather in general, suggesting that Mother Nature helped get folks out to enjoy fair food through the day.

“The weather made people want to come out early to eat,” Schrader said. “A lot of good lunch crowds came out during the whole week.”

Attendance was generally good, according to Schrader. He indicated that Friday’s demolition derby was particularly strong with record attendance, and gate receipts were also at an all-time high.

Like he suggested in the county fair preview published earlier this month, entries for the various livestock entries were generally up, with this being one of the highest entry years. Fine arts exhibits inside were also up this year.

As for participation in the Figure 8 race and demo derby, Schrader said this year was fairly consistent, with 81 drivers Wednesday and 76 on Friday.

This year’s livestock auction exceeded $200,000 thanks to both a substantial number of animals for sale and the support from businesses and individuals.

As far as difficulties, Schrader said this year was clear of any major incidents among the public with no police arrests.

Schrader did speak about issues with parking through the fair’s more well-attended nights. Wednesday was particularly notable given the heavy traffic which trailed from the fairgrounds along Route 156, passing the roundabout in Waterloo and snaking onto Route 3.

For the rest of the fair’s evening attractions, Schrader said fair organizers pushed to address traffic concerns by simply speeding up the parking process. He said Friday and other high-traffic days seemed to go smoother even with the expected flood of cars.

“Like having a downpour of rain like we had the other Tuesday, we had water everywhere, caused flash flooding. And we got flash parking,” Schrader said. “When you’ve got that many cars coming in a two-hour period, it just wasn’t meant to go unnoticed… We’re trying to improve that, and we did a couple things on Friday night that we felt like we helped it.”

Schrader expressed his thanks to all those who came together to contribute to another successful fair, including sponsors, the general public and the many local emergency responders who helped things run smoothly.

“Thanks to the community for the support,” Schrader said. “It’s phenomenal. We are so blessed with all the people that support us, either with time, labor or money. That’s something that not all communities can say.”

Schrader further voiced his anticipation of next year’s fair.

“It was very successful,” Schrader said. “Looking forward to next year’s already, and we’ll just appreciate all the support from everybody, if you’re just a fairgoer or a sponsor or whatever. We greatly appreciate it.”

The week also went well for this year’s fair royalty, with Monroe County Fair Queen Haley Bode and Little Miss Ava Helms both speaking positively about their experiences.

Both Bode and Helms spoke about the fun they had enjoying the automotive attractions from the announcer’s stand as well as the good memories made together during their week at the fairgrounds.

Helms additionally mentioned enjoying all the carnival rides and sharing food with Bode, while Bode was particularly happy for her friend Janella Neary – who also participated in this year’s fair queen pageant – with her achievement of Grand Champion Steer this year.

Bode further discussed her enjoyment getting to see and meet so many folks throughout her time at the fair.

“The week was a blast,” Bode said. “I kept feeling like I was supposed to be tired and I was supposed to be ready to take a nap, but I really wasn’t. I always looked forward to the next activity. I always looked forward to the next day because I knew I would get to interact with more people in the county, and I would get to interact with more youth exhibitors in the agriculture industry.”

Both Bode and Helms are also looking forward to their time at the Illinois State Fair as well as generally representing Monroe County throughout the coming year.