WEEDSPORT - There was a somber tone at the Cayuga County Fairgrounds Sunday afternoon as the fair entered its last day.

Participants packed up their animals for the ride home as vendors took down their tents and packed up their goods as the day wound down.

This year's event saw its share of hits and misses, but organizers believe the fair was a success.

“I think we did well this year,” said Bill Faulkner, president of the fair board. “I think overall we put together a good event and that everyone here had a good time and that generally things went well.”

With the Fourth of July coinciding with the beginning of the fair, organizers believed it might have kept some people away, but to a large extent it didn't impact attendance.

John Lester, a board member, and Faulkner said that last year, more than 15,000 people attended the fair. This year, attendance was down slightly, but Faulkner said nearly 15,000 still came this year.

“People usually have family plans and things like that (on the Fourth of July),” Lester said. “We are committed to having the fair the first weekend of July for the next couple of years, so that is something we are going to have to contend with. But I don't think it hurt too much this year and I think now that people know and understand that we are here on the Fourth, they can plan and make plans to spend some of that time here with us at the fair.”

Organizers had big hopes for the Country 4X4 concert on the Fourth, featuring performers Jamie O'Neal, Rhett Atkins, Doug Stone and Wes Earl, but attendance was not what was expected.

“It is a shame,” Faulkner said. “We had a lot of people on the grounds that day and we had some very talented performers, but people just weren't going to the concert.”

While some areas were not as strong as anticipated, other areas blossomed like never before. Faulkner pointed to the animal exhibits and events; he said participation and crowd interest in these events was unprecedented.

“The draft horses went over really well,” Faulkner said. “So did the horse pull. We had people come from all over to take part in the pull and we had really good attendance for that, too. Most fairs you go to events like that will cost you $10 or $15 just to get in. Here it was all free and people really seemed to enjoy it.”

Other animal shows such as the sheep and goats were also up in numbers. With the help of the New York State Sheep Improvement Project, these kinds of exhibits not only attracted new participants, but also more people interested in learning more about these animals.

Mark Boxendell, one of the goat supervisors, said of particular interest was the chance to milk a goat.

“We had people lined up waiting,” Boxendell said. “Kids and adults loved it. They got a little pin that said they milked a goat and we had more people than we had milk, next year we'll know to bring two goats at a time.”

Another animal-themed event that did well was the Agriculture Awareness Booth, where children could collect a passport to go around and see all the different animals at the fair and get their card stamped to collect free ice cream courtesy of Byrne Dairy.

“We had between 300 and 500 children,” said Beverly Meade, who ran the booth. “It is an educational thing for kids to learn about these animals and what they do. The idea was to show them that there is more to the fair than just the rides and give them an educational opportunity, but also make it fun at the same time.”

The rows of tents, with merchandise ranging from watches to T-shirts and posters, has come to be affectionately known as vendor alley.

Faulkner said this year he heard only good things from the dozen vendors participating.

Madeline Boleat, owner of Madeline's Treasures, who was making her second fair appearance, had a little bit of everything, but believes it was incense that brought shoppers in.

“I think I'm the only one that has that,” Boleat said. “I think people stopped to look at the incense and then they saw other things like the oil burners and fountains. I think it went really well this year.”

There were also first-time vendors such as Mike Morganti of M&M Lawn Ornaments.

“The first day was tough,” Morganti said. “The second and third days were pretty good, especially at night, that is when all the people came out. But it went well, we are sold out of pretty much everything.”

Faulkner said that as soon as the first day is over, he and the committee start planning for the following year and this year was no exception.

Over the next few months, Faulkner and other board members will be attending other county fairs, looking for what is successful and sharing what they have learned with their counterparts, all in an effort to make the fair as strong an event as possible.

“We want to keep the parking and admission free,” Faulkner said. “We have had great sponsorship from the Fox and H&L Ford and Friendly Ford. And we hope to keep that and be able to keep things free and make this a fun, inexpensive place for people to come and enjoy themselves in the summer.”