Next year's fair may include touring shark tank

MOSES LAKE — Another Grant County Fair has come and gone, and the Grant County Fairgrounds fair and facility manager is calling it a success.

Al Holman estimated that the 2005 Grant County Fair had a preliminary attendance figure of 70,016 attendees during the five-day run, and over 9,000 exhibits. Attendance was up a little over 5 percent from last year, Holman noted.

"As far as form and function, it went very smooth," he said. "You get that many people and animals together, there's always a few (opportunities for) fun and excitement. We're extremely pleased with the success of the County Fair."

On Wednesday, scheduled entertainer Wuenderbread had difficulty crossing the Canadian border, and the Fair Board Entertainment Committee quickly found a replacement band with Rock-A-Roake from Seattle, who were on the board to perform in less than two hours, Holman noted in a press release.

On Friday, Chuck Yarbro Auctioneers helped 4-H and FFA exhibitors sell 378 animals, including dairy heifers, steer, swine, sheep, rabbits and poultry, with a total value of over $206,000.

Holman said that fair attendance had been on "kind of a slow decline" since 1997, and said it was nice to see a solid uptake.

"We hope to continue the progress forward," he said.

Holman added that plans are already in the works for next year's fair, with all sorts of different options under consideration, including different entertainers to a touring shark tank based out of Florida. That exhibit is a 40-foot semitrailer containing hammerheads and other types of sharks, Holman explained.

"That's one of the options we're looking at to make the fair different and keep the tradition that we love with Grant County Fair," he said. "It doesn't mean we can't throw in a few large aquatic carnivores."