Fair wraps with family activities
Thousands attend annual fair in RipleyBy CHRISTINA BRIGHT, cbright@newsandsentinel.com
RIPLEY - The 45th annual Mountain State Art and Craft Fair wrapped up Sunday.
Among the top events for younger fairgoers Sunday was the youth fishing derby. This year's derby had 20 participants 12-years old and younger.
The lake is stocked with tagged fish. The child who catches the lowest numbered fish is declared the winner. This year's winner was Caleb Braley of Kenna. Following him was Alexandra Bunn of Charleston, Brianna Sutphin of Salt Rock, Kayla Braley of Kenna and Kailey Philyaw of Given.
Throughout the fair, traditional storytelling provided families an opportunity to sit the shade and hear some entertaining stories. Sunday featured two storytellers: Donna Wilson and Keith Maynard. Earlier in the week, Suzi Whaples and Susanna Holstein were featured at the Market Square stage. The local group Arts at the Alpine Inc. sponsored the storytellers at fair.
And while the fair experienced a rainy July Fourth, the rest of the fair experienced sunny, warm weather. With the muddy conditions that were created, however, parking patterns had to be altered. Greg Atkinson, marketing director of the fair, said crowds have been receptive to the changes and not at all deterred by the mud.
In fact, the July Fourth crowd reached about 3,000 people.
Saturday's numbers were above 6,000. Sunday's attendance had not been determined as of press time.
Atkinson said the fair board made a concerted effort to market the fair to draw more people this year. Among those efforts were live feeds from the fair which stations around the state could broadcast. Now in the second year of the broadcasts those efforts paid off. Atkinson said one artisan from the southern part of the state reported about 20 people said they came to the fair from his hometown or nearby because they saw an interview with him on their local news station.
"It's been a wonderful addition to how we get the word out about the fair," said Atkinson.
Other efforts have been a wider internet presence and focusing advertising to the interests of fairgoers. Guest surveys help the board determine the areas of the state people are from and what their particular interest in the fair is. That information all has helped shape their marketing campaign.
"This is the second year of the current (advertising) campaign and we're really seeing results now," Atkinson said.
