By Edwin Scherzer
Correspondent
The bone jarring crash in the first heat of the Walworth County Fair’s demolition derby wasn’t the only excitement or moment that brought the anticipated race to a halt.
Fairgoers waiting in line and in the stands experienced firsthand changes to the marquee closing night event.
This year, patrons attending the derby had to pay a per heat wristband fee of $3, not a huge issue to most attendees, however Kevin Migginson of Lyons disagreed.
“I’ve been coming here for 20 years, the demo derby is a family event and this is biting into the families really hard,” he said.
In addition to the first-time ever charge for the races, policies put in place ahead of the fair, stated that patrons were to exit between heats, something Dean Raemsich of East Troy said was handled poorly.
“Emptying the bleachers doesn’t make any sense, you should be able to wave your hand and stay,” he said.
Initially, fair security was instructed to clear the grandstands between heats, however some patrons refused to leave, and causing tension with those who did so.
Other fans tried to take advantage by jumping the re-entry line, which along with the heat and humidity caused some tempers to flare.
One who didn’t lose his temper was fairgoer Mark Sigmund from Rockford, Ill. but he did witness other doing so.
“I saw a lot of people cutting in line, some people claimed they bought wristbands for all three heats, when they didn’t,” he said. “The $3 was reasonable, but additional security would be nice, maybe rope lines for next year.”
Walworth County Fair Board member Becky Merwin stated said she felt despite some people not being responsive to the changes, there was more positive than negative.
“All the other fairs charge for their demolition derby, and all in all, I’d say it was successful. Ninety percent of the people were very happy,” she added.
Susan Pruessing, marketing and public relations director for the fair said the reason for the new price was the cost of metal.
“The reason we instituted the pre heat price is cost of scrap metal has gone up, and the cars have become very expensive for our drivers,” she explained.
On the issue of seating, Pruessing says, people used to come in the morning and stay in their seats all day.
“We wanted to make it more equitable, and so people wouldn’t have to wait in line. This way, everyone that buys a wristband, knows they have a seat.”
Whether that’s a front row seat or a nosebleed, depends on who followed the rules, got back in line for the additional heats, or was simply allowed by security to stay.
“As we go back and revisit this year, we will sit down with security, board members and others to see what went on down there (at the grandstands),” Pruessing said.
Fairgoer Sally Kellman of Milwaukee said the derby is the only thing her and family come for.
“They should offer a one day ticket, just with parking and the grandstand.”
That’s not a likely option. “Because we are a fairgrounds, that will never happen”, said Merwin.
I have to say there aren’t many fairs that charge for the demo.I have worked for a carnival and every town we have been to never charged for the demos..I think elkhorn just wants more money to fix things they can’t afford