The 154th edition of the Moniteau County Fair is in the books, having gone off without a hitch despite the challenges an ongoing pandemic brings.
Organizers said the fair ran smoothly despite coronavirus concerns. Each night and every event was full of excited fairgoers looking forward to another year at their county fair.
Though some of the events had to be canceled, such as the Miss Moniteau County scholarship contest and open art hall due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic or lack of interest, fair attendance was at an average, if not above its usual amount, fair board president Travis Peck said.
"I think the fair went very well this year," Peck said. "We had very good turnouts every night, things ran smooth, the weather was great. I really don't think we could have asked for a better week."
When it came to social distancing, people who chose to did, and others took to the matter as they saw fit. But everyone enjoyed being able to be out among their fellow community members once again, Peck said.
"I had a lot of people comment to me that they were glad that we were having it and everything," Peck said. "Everything that I've heard so far has been positive, they thought we had a good week. The fair board felt like we had a good week. But mostly, everything has been a positive review on it so far."
Though things played out as planned, the fair board is always looking for new ways it can improve the fair or the fairgrounds in the years to follow to continue providing Moniteau County residents with the fair they expect. With that being said, Peck said the fair board will continue coming up with new ideas and ways to keep the fair safe and fun for everyone.
"On behalf of the fair board, (we want to) thank the community for all the support that we got during the week of the fair and we appreciated everyone coming out and supporting the fair," Peck said.