JOHN DAY — With the 113th Grant County Fair and Rodeo in the books, the fairgrounds manager looked back at this year’s fair and discussed plans for next year’s fair.

Mindy Winegar said this year’s fair saw 7,000 people come through the gate throughout the fair week, slightly down from last year.

However, she added, the fair also saw a record number of vendors and the rodeo had the best turnout since the 1980s, with over 1,300 people showing up over the event’s two-night run and more than 150 contestants entering the junior rodeo.

She said the fair’s Friday night concert, which featured Eddie Montgomery of Montgomery Gentry as the headliner, did not sell enough tickets to break even.

Winegar said she needs the community to tell her what attractions they would like to see at the fair other than a carnival.

With roughly $2.2 million coming in grant funding this year, Winegar said the fairgrounds would start working on projects that will include a renovation of Keerins Hall once they have the money in hand.

In the interim, she said planning for next year’s fair is starting now. That planning will include deciding whether to book another concert with a big name touring act as the headliner. Additionally, she said, she is thinking about changing the dates so Grant County Fair is not happening at the same time as the Crook and Baker County Fairs.

Having the fair the same week as Baker and Crook Counties, Winegar said, affects Grant County’s overall numbers.

“Being in Grant County,” Winegar said, “we need to pull from everyone around us.”