It was another year of rain but it failed to dampen the spirits of Fergus Truck Show board of directors president Keith Drinkwater.
He said in an interview on Monday there were lots of positive signs, even though rain early Friday and on Saturday afternoon might have kept some people at home. Sunday was one of those beautiful days that can make or break an event.
He said there were 308 trucks attending the scaled-down venue for this year, a drop of about 50 from previous years. But, he said, “The gate was pretty good. The entertainment grounds were full.”
One area that was down was the camping. It was sold out this year with 140 spaces taken, but because the show was unable to reach an agreement with neighbours for the use of their land, the available camping spaces dropped from over 500 in 2009, and that is “a bit of a dent in revenue.”
The show changed its venue somewhat from previous years because of the land shortage. It dropped the midway, and had only one bar instead of two. He did note the show had space for 400 trucks.
“The key for us was not counting on that [missing] space,” he said. “We can still have a successful show.” He added the extra space had been used for only the previous five years. Before that, the show had the same footprint.
Drinkwater said he was pleased because, “The entertainment was as big as it’s ever been.” He noted, though, that new regulations meant hiring qualified security – another extra expense.
He said with a smaller area to cover and better coordination of volunteers, the show was much easier to manage this year. He said a lot of key people were able to make their own decisions instead of having to pass requests up the line.
Volunteers numbered between 1,000 and 1,100, and Drinkwater said that was slightly below the previous year, but with a smaller show area to manage, there was no problem.
All kinds of Sports, service and community groups have used the Fergus Truck Show over the years as their major fundraiser. They share in the profits based on the number of hours their organization works at the show.
Drinkwater said the rain caused some difficulties with the tractor pulls, and some of the wet land had to be scraped off the track, and at other times the track had to be covered, but he said every time he looked in the stands there were people there.
He added the Sunday morning demolition derby went over particularly well. He did not have a chance to see it himself, but the word “fantastic” was one he heard many people use to describe it.
As for attendance, Drinkwater said it will take some time to determine the numbers.
On Saturday, there was a steady lineup at the admissions during the afternoon, but he said it is tough to count heads because some wrist bands are for a single day, and others are for the entire weekend. Also, there are different passes for children and seniors.
Drinkwater said he and the board will now take a few weeks off, and will likely meet in August to get the results of this year’s show.
He said the board will review what went right, what went wrong, where improvements can be made and then planning for next year will begin.
He added he hopes to keep negotiations open with the neighbouring farmers for use of their land next year.
After that, he said, the show will “move forward.”
