He was about six months old and he hasn’t missed many since.
“I think it was the biggest parade I ever saw,” he said as he and his wife, Helen, left the fairgrounds Sunday afternoon.
The parade on Thursday was an example of this year’s fair, organizers said: Successful.
The Mullens, as they have for so many years, played a part. He is master of Pomona Grange and in charge of the Grange and displays at the fair.
“It was very successful,” said Rose Topolski, a fair secretary. “We had huge days and at the gate we were averaging about 600 paid cars per day. That doesn’t include people with passes.”
That means at the least more than 2,000 people passed through the gates daily, with attendance even higher for the weekend.
“The weather helped,” she said. “The press was good. When people saw things like the mechanic bull and others things they were attracted to, they came.”
The tractor pull and demolition derby were hits, she said.
So were less flashy exhibits, such as the balloon sculpture woman who created one piece a day to form a final creation.
Volunteer Alton MacDuffie said Sunday was “cleanup day,” as will be the next few days.
“It’s 100 percent volunteer,” he said.
The Genesee County Sheriff’s Department volunteered, bringing in weekend inmates from the County Jail at 7 Sunday morning. The inmates stayed until about 1 p.m.
“Everything worked like clockwork,” Topolski said. “The success blossomed each day.’’
Final numbers for attendance to the 173rd fair should be available sometime today, she said.
