Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Entries were up at the Roosevelt County Fair this year, even though gate receipts were down.
Organizers are still collecting data and finalizing counts for the fair, but they have some information.
Overall, fair board president Sheila Hays had good things to say about the fair.
“Our barns were full of all kinds of things for people to look at,” she said, and added that the fair went smoothly.
Fair Secretary Jill Caviness said records show about 2,450 people exhibited almost 3,900 entries in indoor and livestock competitions this year. Those numbers are slightly higher than last year, when approximately 2,430 people showed nearly 3,500 entries.
Of this year’s entries, 2,536, or about 65.4 percent, were indoor exhibits, said county Extension Home Economist Connie Moyers. Indoor exhibits include adult and youth sewing, food, horticulture, fine art, metal and woodwork, and crafts.
The number of indoor exhibits fluctuates, Moyers said. In the last three years, numbers have stayed within 100 entries of each other.
Moyers cited weather and who enters as factors.
This summer, rain allowed more plants to grow, bringing up the number of horticulture and flower show entries, she said.
As for livestock, the fair had 1,342 entries, up 305 from last year.
The Junior Livestock Sale brought in an estimated total of $159, 275 this year, down about 12 percent from last year, Sale Secretary Joy Levacy has said.
However, sale committee member Jana Roberts said last year’s sale brought in a record amount of money, and this year’s sale income was close to that in 2007.
“We did really well,” she said.
Fifty-five animals were sold.
Roberts said the economic downturn might be responsible for the drop from last year.
Hays said no one counts the number of people who visit the fair, but the money ticket sales brought in was down.
“We know our gate numbers were down a bit, but we expected that because of the economy,” she said.
Gate receipt amounts weren’t available at press time Tuesday night.