SEMO DISTRICT FAIR POSTS $35,000 PROFIT IN 1991

The 1991 SEMO District Fair posted a profit of $53,000, SEMO District Fair Association President Pete Poe said Thursday.

But that profit excludes the cost of pre-fair improvements the association paid for at Arena Park, where the fair is held. Poe said the improvements cost approximately $32,000, making for a $21,000 increase in the association's cash position on the year.

This year's fair showed an increase of about $2,500 in revenues over the 1990 fair, he said. Overall, the total income for the 1991 fair came to $66,061, the association's financial report shows. The total income for the 1990 fair was $66,580, it says.

Poe made his comments at the start of the association's annual meeting at the A.C. Brase Arena Building. About 115 people attended the dinner meeting.

Though the fair's daytime attendance suffered, people turned out at night, even with the late summer heat in September, Poe said. Gate attendance and carnival receipts were comparable to the 1990 fair, he said, and concession sales were strong.

"The biggest thing we did this year was again control expenses," Poe said.

The fair's total attendance this year came to 81,500. In 1990, the fair drew about the same, Poe said. Two of the days during the 1990 fair it rained, he said.

General admission receipts this year amounted to $107,782, compared to $107,898 for the 1990 fair, the financial report shows. Yet grandstand admission receipts fell this year by nearly $10,000, to $50,880 from $60,422 in 1990.

Box seat admission receipts were up, though, from $14,800 to $15,303.

This year's fair included one additional day, which brought in some additional revenue. However, Poe said the fair offered free admission that day and did not count attendance.

Poe said the Budweiser draft horses, the Clydesdales, though not a paid attraction, proved to be a definite draw this year. That also helped the fair maintain its attendance, he said.

Poe said the association got its financial report back from its accountant today. The report, he said, came back pretty much as expected.

"We were pleased right at the end of the fair. We thought we knew where we were."

The improvements made to Arena Park before the fair dealt with asphalting and paving of streets, improving the grandstand seating area, and electrical work. Poe said the electrical work included replacing some dangerous and obsolete overhead wiring with underground electrical systems.

"What was planned has been completed," he said. He said he met Thursday with Dan Muser, director of the city's Parks and Recreation Department, to discuss possible future park improvements.

Association members Thursday voted to fill three spots on the association's 12-member board. Two Jackson residents, Jim Sander and Bob Nitsch, were re-elected to three-year terms. Association members also elected Charles Mangles of Oak Ridge to a three-year term.