ATMs to volunteers, SEMO District Fair can put a number on it

From trash collection to the sheer number of animals and volunteers, the SEMO District Fair annually amounts to a huge endeavor.

Numbers tell the story.

600: Volunteers it takes to put on the fair

93,000: Total attendance expected for the eight-day fair that began Saturday

That's about the same as last year, according to Pete Poe, a member of the SEMO District Fair Board of Directors.

A rainy forecast kept attendance low at the start of the fair, he said. "We are chipping away, and we are about to get it back," Poe said of attendance to date.

870: Number of "big animals" at the fair

That includes everything from horses and mules to cows, sheep and goats.

1,400: Number of chickens, rabbits, ducks, geese and other small animals judged at the fair

150: Approximate number of straw bales

7: Semi-truck loads of animal bedding

33: Number of tents erected

40-plus: Portable toilets at the fair

10: Portable hand-washing stations

6: ATMs

30: Golf carts used by fair staff

30: Amusement rides

80: Vendors, including 26 food vendors selling everything from funnel cakes to "rowdy fries"

36: Dumpsters on fairgrounds

220: Trash barrels

400: Number of 55-gallon trash bags used daily

Poe said the fair association works daily to keep the grounds clean. "We don't want to create a smell," he said.

$25,000: Fair's annual utilities bill

"We pay the utility bill," Poe said of the fair association.

$1.3 million to $1.5 million: Total fair revenue, including that of visiting vendors

"We are a business," Poe said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3641