* I went to the Illinois State Fair eight different this year. I think that’s a personal record. The weather was darned near perfect, but I thought the Fair was better than in years past and attendance jumped despite a price increase…

(T)his year’s attendance for the 10-day fair was 844,051, according to fair officials. That’s nearly 15 percent higher than last year’s 10-day total of 735,599.

Grandstand concert attendance also was up this year, with 51,732 seeing the nine ticketed events, compared to 49,649 people last year.

After hiding out from the heat for most of the summer, people seemed to relish the chance to get outside and enjoy the food, games, rides and other attractions at the fairgrounds, Bliefnick said.

Ticket prices jumped to $7 for adults this year from $5 last year, but that didn’t appear to hurt attendance.

* Comparison with 2011…

And that’s way above previous years…

Reported attendance at the Illinois State Fair was approximately 650,000 in 2003, 671,333 in 2004, 672,615 in 2005, approximately 705,000 in 2006, and 737,052 in 2008.

* Just two shows, Eric Church and Miranda Lambert, accounted for about 44 percent of the Grandstand attendance.

More like this, please.

* Meanwhile, a couple of buddies and I had another adventure with a borrowed golf cart this year. I posted one two years ago, but we made an unreleased video last year as well. I never posted it because somebody stole the cart and I figured I was in enough trouble already without adding to my woes.

Thursday’s rain got things a little muddy, so we went over to the steep hills surrounding Happy Hollow for some fun. Enjoy…

Yes, we were bad. No, you shouldn’t do this. Yes, I’m probably in trouble… again.

       

21 Comments - Oswego Willy - Monday, Aug 20, 12 @ 2:06 pm: Dear Rich Miller, I hope you enjoyed my golf cart. If you could get it back to the Rail by Wednesday, I have a “meeting” at 2:17 and that is my lucky golf cart. Sincerely, Tom Cross - Rich Miller - Monday, Aug 20, 12 @ 2:07 pm: Ah, Willy, if you only knew. - View from the Cheap Seats - Monday, Aug 20, 12 @ 2:13 pm: Next year you should pull an Evil Knievel and jump over Pat Brady…with the leprechaun mascot with you. - OneMan - Monday, Aug 20, 12 @ 2:14 pm: Put down your drink… - Rich Miller - Monday, Aug 20, 12 @ 2:17 pm: OneMan, no alcohol was involved in the production of the above video. And by “production,” I mean the editing I did today to take out a swear word. lol - Pot calling kettle - Monday, Aug 20, 12 @ 2:26 pm: How many tickets for that ride? I paid six bucks to ride the sky tram round trip, I think the golf cart on the muddy hill ride would be worth at least five! (More with a celebrity driver.) LOL - Give Me A Break - Monday, Aug 20, 12 @ 2:27 pm: Rich next year you should mix it up and take your Standardbred off the track and do a little hill climbing while you race Samatha to the top. - Peter - Monday, Aug 20, 12 @ 2:29 pm: I paid $9 to get into the Wisconsin State Fair this year and found half as much to do as in the Prairie State with far less room for crowds to spread out. And parking was far worse. Advantage: Illinois. - Oswego Willy - Monday, Aug 20, 12 @ 2:30 pm: Dear Rich Miller, I got a call from the Rail, regarding my Lucky golf cart. The drink holder on the right side seems to be damaged, and my 5-iron is now through the front axle, acting as a brace to keep the cart moving. Any thought how this might have happened? The cart I can get fixed, I am more upset about the 5-iron. I know you took good care of my Lucky cart, so if you know any possible way this may have happened, just let me know. I can be reached either at the Rail, Panther Creek, or Piper Glen, depending on the day. Sincerely, Tom Cross - Rich Miller - Monday, Aug 20, 12 @ 2:46 pm: ===you should mix it up and take your Standardbred off the track and do a little hill climbing while you race Samatha to the top. === Hmmm. - Rich Miller - Monday, Aug 20, 12 @ 2:47 pm: ===How many tickets for that ride?=== Like everything else in this state, it’s all about who you know. - Bitterman - Monday, Aug 20, 12 @ 2:57 pm: sure sure, its all fun and games till someone gets an eye poked out….. - Deep South - Monday, Aug 20, 12 @ 3:08 pm: I can’t believe you’d get in trouble for THAT! - Yellow Dog Democrat - Monday, Aug 20, 12 @ 3:18 pm: Congrats to the Governor, Dept of Agriculture, State Fair Director and City of Springfield seem in order. - Colossus - Monday, Aug 20, 12 @ 4:06 pm: Rich - your speed seemed slow. Back in my dumb intern days, we would prop up the regulator with a rock to max out the speed before taking the hill. Now that I’m not an intern anymore, I make a point of explaining to the interns exactly what they shouldn’t do with/to the golf carts. - Easy - Monday, Aug 20, 12 @ 4:07 pm: Banned for life - sal-says - Monday, Aug 20, 12 @ 6:31 pm: Nice. You don’t get to be a kid all that often when you get older. Enjoy!!!!! - RNUG - Monday, Aug 20, 12 @ 8:31 pm: Rich, Someone here in town has an electric powered dune buggy with a LOT more horsepower (but it doesn’t do well in the rain) … maybe next year you could borrow that one and smuggle it on to the fair grounds ? - wordslinger - Tuesday, Aug 21, 12 @ 7:55 am: The best summers of my life were spent maximizing value out of the local country club. This included midnight golf cart races. During the day, my buddies and I (not members, believe me) would crash the pool and then head to the back nine to collect golf balls out of the woods, rough and ponds and sell them to passing golfers. When the day’s work was done we’d go eat at Dairy Queen, bowl a couple of games next door, panhandle some beer and then head back to the golf course to meet up with some girls. We’d drink, crash the pool and sneak the carts out of the barn and race all night long. Let me stress this was all very, very wrong. And for the life of me I can’t figure out why I ever stopped doing it. - Cincinnatus - Tuesday, Aug 21, 12 @ 8:32 am: I noticed Rich could only make LEFT turns… - WazUp - Tuesday, Aug 21, 12 @ 9:29 am: Rich’s ride. One too many days at the fair, eh Rich? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHSM3hhmH7A Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.