MARTINSVILLE, Ill (WTHI) - Stormy weather earlier this week put a damper on a local fair and many events had to be postponed.
Organizers of the Martinsville Ag Fair say they haven't seen this much rain during fair week in years. They say despite some hiccups in the schedule there's still plenty of fun to be had this week.
"We're used to rain during fair week but not 10 inches of rain during fair week. 2-3 inches is nothing out of the ordinary but this was excessive this year." Andy Cruse at the fair said.
It's not hard to find muddy areas at the Martinsville fairgrounds. Fair organizers say they received over 9 inches of rain since the weekend.
"It's been a long time since I've seen it rain that much in that short of time we've had years when it would rain throughout the week but nothing like we had this weekend before the fair even started," fair president Alan Buckner says.
Organizers say the major rainfall totals in the Martinsville area created many problems including making parking areas too muddy to use.
"We've had rain since Friday evening so the first part of the week has been slow. We had to cancel a couple of nights and we've had to rearrange our parking but today we are able to add more parking due to the sunshine and we'll be able to park a little better tonight" Buckner says.
The sunshine over the past couple of days has begun to dry areas out and fair officials say the fair will continue as usual through the weekend. Many say the fair is a one-of-a-kind event for the area.
"From kids to grandparents look forward to it every year it's a sense of community for us, a small town, so it brings the community together," Cruse says.
The fair will have events through Saturday. It costs seven dollars to get in and there is free parking.
