Jul 23, 2018
BATAVIA — The Genesee County Fair escaped the rain for most of the day Saturday, leaving kids with one more day to hit the Midway, tractor pull fans a chance to seethe youth and adults in action and everyone a last chance to check out the vendors and food stand.
The day after the 2018 fair ended, county Agricultural Society, Inc. Treasurer Norm Pimm was among those cleaning up and putting things away and took a break from what he was doing to share some of the facts and figures from the week.
Roughly 35,000 paying customers made their way through the gates since the six-day fair began on July 16, according to Pimm.
“Attendance was up about 20 percent over last year,” he said. “Obviously, we’re not done counting. That’s seven straight years of double-digit attendance increases. Grandstand events were a big hit. Thursday night was the second biggest night for racing that we ever had.”
The Agricultural Society treasurer said Saturday night’s Empire State Pullers (ESP) Tractor Pull drew the largest attendance the fair had.
“It’s good to see that starting to grow,” Pimm said.
Friday night was the Demolition Derby, which pulled in the second-largest attendance in fair history with about 2,700 people in the grandstand, Pimm said. Last year’s derby attracted around 3,000 people to the grandstand. The 2018 ESP Tractor Pull was only partially completed before the rains came, however.
“They got about half of the show in,” said Nick O’Geen, Agricultural Society first vice president. “They got a little bit of a late start on it.”
Before the Empire State pull, the Small Fry Tractor Pull took place, as did pulls in several other fair divisions. Among the division results, in Stock, Scotty Cooper was first with a distance of 300.4 feet, Devin Grebauer second at 296.6 and Destiny Grebauer third at 294.3.
In Stock Altered, Paul Van Valkenburg was first with 372.1, Ricky Dellenger second with 312.3 and Scott Cooper third with 198.8. In Modified, Georgie Miller won with 429.1, Kyle Carmichael second with 419. 1 and Lenny Mioducki third in 415.2. In the Under 8 Stock, Josh Swaitkowski was first in 460.7, Nick Zandrowicz second with 456.3 and Frank Burkett third with 415.2.
In Sports Stock, Devin Grebauer won with 385.2, Burkett was second in 368.8 and Mike (last name unavailable) third in 365.81. In Pro Stock Altered, Miller won in 375.5. In Super Mod, the winner was Paul Townsend in 505.7. In Under 8, the winner was Tyler Scofield in 558.2, Wally (last name unavailable) was second in 545.2 and Burkett was third with 538.2.
Pimm said the fair’s food stand collected around $18,000.
“We’ll put that money back into the fairgrounds ... We definitely need the support of that and we appreciate it,” he said.
The animal exhibition this year was one of the largest in recent years, Pimm said.
“We were over 800 head,” he said. “All the barns were full all week, to the point where we had to rotate animals in and out.”
Three Genesee County Swine Club members earned scholarships with money from Red Osier Landmark Restaurant in Stafford. The $675 total came from revenue from the restaurant’s truck, which had been at the fair all week. Rebecca Reamer earned a $500 scholarship, Becky Kron won a $100 scholarship and Ben Kron earned a $75 scholarship. Emily
Mikel won a Leadership Award and received a Darien Lake Theme Park package, which included four park passes and food and drink items. Pimm said the money came from the tip jar at the Red Osier food truck and 20 percent of food sales.
“None of the improvements we had would have been possible without the volunteers ... and without the county leadership we had,” Pimm said of the fair in general, mentioning help from County Manager Jay Gsell, Legislature Chairman Bob Bausch and state Assemblyman Steve Hawley.
