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One rig at a time, midway rides, bunkhouses, and trailers full of stuffed animals have been making their way across the lift bridge as the traveling road show heads on to the next town.
The Houghton County Fair has come to a close with thousands attending. With only one cancellation due to bad weather, the Houghton County Fair Administration calls three of the four days very good, in regards to this year’s attendance.
The Grandstand featured daily motor sports such as an off road derby and demolition derby. Heavy rain on Friday slowed attendance and caused the cancellation of the Tractor Pull. That rain also left a field of mud on Saturday morning that forced crews to spend the morning regrading to obtain dry dirt necessary to make Saturday night’s main event, the monster truck show, possible.
“We bring some of the best trucks from all over the country right here to Houghton. We’ll go to any truck show they can possible get to and they love getting up close and personal with the trucks and the drivers. That’s what’s cool about monster trucks is it allows people to get close to the machines and get close to the drivers and ask questions and it makes it a much more personal and interactive experience for the fans and the drivers alike,” Show organizer Jason Grzesikowski.
Three oversize pickups and one fabricated ice cream mobile took turns jumping over and crushing a fleet of vehicles, on loan from a local salvage yard, before audience applause determined a finalist in the competition. An intermission show featured two daredevils on ATVs who performed stunts while airborne and jumping a 75 foot span.
Grzesikowski said. “We’ve got a show in St. Ignace coming up in a couple of weeks over at Kewadin Casino. We’ve got a show that heads all the way out to Maine in another week, so we’re all over the place right now.”
Several animal shows, displays, and competitions occupied the barns while amusement rides, games, cotton candy, and elephant ears drew folks toward the midway. Sunday drew another large crowd with many coming to witness the derby as a final show. Sunday’s rain storms held off until this year’s event had concluded.
