Lucas sets bar high for State Fair

Marion Lucas is leaving on a high note.

Lucas’ unexpected announcement Friday that this will be his last State Fair as director comes at the end of what just about everybody has described as the best fair in memory.

One can’t write about the State Fair without commenting on the weather, and, yes, the weather this year was as close to perfection as one could ask. Unseasonably moderate temperatures, low humidity and, except for some showers Thursday and Friday, mostly sunny skies. Lucas’s first State Fair out of retirement was marred by brutal heat, which put a lid on attendance last year.

The bogeyman at this year’s fair was not the weather, but gasoline prices well north of the $3 mark and diesel fuel selling for around $4.20 per gallon. Empty sections were seen in the campground for the first time in a long time as some veteran fairgoers kept their Winnebagos in the driveway or closer to home.

Lucas said before the fair that he figured people would make their decision to attend or not based on whether they could make the trip and return home on either a half a tank of gas or a full tank. Attendance was up 12 percent the first five days of the fair compared to last year. Lucas will probably announce the final attendance figures this week.

In the short time he was with the fair in his second incarnation — he was fair director from 1981 to 1986 — he put his mark on it. He persuaded the Fair Commission to put more money into free entertainment, which everyone raved about this year. Children and grownups alike spoke highly of the 45-minute circus act presented three times a day. Vocal Trash, an offbeat variety act, also got rave reviews.

It’s been a fair where parents can take their children for the day, show them a great time and not empty the family treasury.

The State Fair Commission has settled the succession question by choosing Mark Wolfe to train under Lucas for several months. The commission would then elevate Wolfe, now the building director, to the top job when Lucas decides it’s time to retire. We hope that Wolfe will follow his mentor’s example of finding ways to make the fair more attractive to families while maintaining the agricultural traditions.

Lucas also gets high marks for his straightforward dealing with the press, which was a sharp departure from the practices of the last couple of directors.

The community can now look to Wolfe to continue the spirit of Lucas’ leadership and make the annual exposition even better.