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Crowds Came - People turn out, tend to keep their money
Journal photos by Bruce Chapman
Lisa Bingham of In the Red Farm & Dairy near Chinquapin prepares an entry in the goats open show at the Dixie Classic Fairgrounds.
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Published: October 12, 2009
DIXIE CLASSIC FAIR: MORE THAN 300,000 ATTEND
People turn out, tend to keep their money
The question was easy enough: Was the 2009 edition of the venerable Dixie Classic Fair a success?
For the most part, the answer was "yes" but variations could be heard depending on where the question was asked.
Through Saturday night, about 298,000 had poured through the gates for the first nine of the fair's 10-day run. And by the time the fair closed for 2009 last night, an additional 30,000 were expected.
"If our projections hold, it should put us near our five-year average and beat last year's 310,000 by 15,000," said David Sparks, the fair's director. "Concessionaires reported the sales were down. People were looking for bargains and being more thrifty but still want to experience the fair."
The stuffed masses strolling the Midway and sampling the seemingly endless variety of available fried foods thought the fair a smashing success.
"You can only hold onto your money for so long," said Steve Baldwin, a proud grandfather manning the stroller holding his granddaughter Sha'iah Scales on the fair's final day. "It's like venting. There's so much enjoyment, you almost have to say ‘What the heck?'"
Over in barns near the Grandstand, the beaming winners of some of the fair's bedrock agricultural exhibits and displays also thought the 2009 Dixie Classic a runaway hit.
Lisa and Nathan Scales brought some of the goats from their In the Red Farm & Dairy near Chinquapin, in Duplin County, and went home with a pair of best-in-show awards, one for Best Doe in one competition and Best Udder in another competition.
"We like this fair," Lisa Scales said. "It stays close to its agricultural roots and doesn't get too close to the carnie stuff."
Nearly on the opposite side of the fairgrounds in the Annex building, a different answer to the question about the fair's success was given by vendors who can pay around $1,000 to set up a booth to sell their wares or push political viewpoints.
Jeff Hinkleman of the Health Craft cookware company said he deliberately changed the configuration of his display this year in anticipation of a tough sales environment.
Instead of the four sections of chairs he's set up to surround his cooking display for the past nine years, he set up two sections similar to church pews so that people could more easily move between them. He said that fewer people took the time to watch his live demonstrations of nonstick cookware because they "didn't want to be tempted."
"People want to buy it when they see it," he said. "Four years ago, we probably did $50,000 in sales and this year we're looking at maybe $15,000. It's the same for the Oreck guy across the way."
Dave Zieg, the area manager for Oreck vacuum cleaners, said that sales had indeed slumped from previous years. In better times, foot traffic and demonstrations helped tremendously with potential customers.
"We know that people come out so their kids can ride and maybe eat a little bit, too," Zieg said. "They're just not spending a lot of the bigger dollars that they used to. When they come in the stores, they come in for a reason.
"Here at the fair, it's hit or miss and we're seeing that people don't even want to stop and chat because they know they can't buy something this year."
Still, that tighter grip on the purse strings didn't keep Charles and Kathy Dabbs away. The couple from King plopped down in mechanical foot-massage chairs in anticipation of a whole lot of walking with their grandkids later yesterday afternoon.
"We're just trying to get revved up," Charles Dabbs said. "Normally we ride just about everything but this year we're more interested in watching the young'uns ride."
ssexton@wsjournal.com
(336) 727-7481
Journal photographer Bruce Chapman contributed to this story.
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