RAPID CITY - Good crowds Saturday and Sunday at the Central States Fair helped make up for the storm-forced closure on Friday night, according to fair general manager Ron Jeffries.

Fair officials began evacuating the fairgrounds shortly after 6 p.m. Friday after learning from sheriff's deputies of the severe storm approaching.

But Saturday was a huge day for overall fair attendance, the carnival and the demolition derby in the grandstand arena, Jeffries said.

He said the fair had a paid attendance of about 10,000 on Saturday, plus about 3,000 people entered the fairgrounds with admission buttons.

"I had one of my biggest days ever at the carnival Saturday," Jeffries said. "What pushed our carnival revenues so much Saturday was because Friday was rained out."

The grandstand was filled almost to capacity with about 5,500 people for the demolition derby Saturday night, Jeffries said.

The Friday night truck pull schedule for the grandstand was canceled but tickets sold for that event were honored for the demolition derby, Jeffries said.

Jeffries said the fairgrounds crowd was good on Sunday afternoon also.

He expected a good crowd for the Joe Diffe and Colin Raye concerts Sunday night, if the weather cooperated.

"I think crowds will continue to stay steady throughout the fair," Jeffries said. "The Big D Mega-pass (for the carnival) kicks off Monday and that always brings us big numbers in the daytime."

Crowds were good Sunday along the midway, as well as the open class exhibit buildings near the La Crosse Street entrance.

A volunteer helping at the Fine Arts Building said crowds Sunday were better than those on Saturday.

As usual, a line had formed for the cream puffs at Cream Puffery.

Friday night's cancellation hurt vendors, of course.

At the Pool and Spa Center tent, Brad Willits, a salesman at the Rapid City store, said a good five hours were shaved off the business time Friday night. The Pool and Spa Center tent usually stays open until between 11 p.m. and midnight.

Willits said Saturday was better for business.

"It was a good Saturday," he said. "It was better than a lot of opening weekends."

The Pool and Spa Center has exhibited at the fair every year since the late 1970s.

Jim Robinson, manager of the Spearfish Pool and Spa Center store, said fair business is better on evenings when a concert or rodeo is taking place.

Saturday night there was no concert or rodeo, but business was good anyway, he said.

At the Bear Factory booth in the Soule building, (where kids can build and dress their own stuffed animals), things were slow on Sunday, said Sharon Neva, owner of the Spearfish store.

This is Neva's first fair but she has set up at other events.

Neva said a customer was in the middle of writing her a check for the bears her two daughters had built when the building was evacuated about 6 p.m. Friday.

Neva said she told the woman not to worry about it, just go.

"When something like that happens, it doesn't matter," Neva said.

She said everyone in the Soule Building was evacuated to the Fine Arts Building where she saw that customer.

"She wrote me a check then," she said.

Neva said Saturday was better. "We had a good-sized crowd," she said.

Angie Webber, owner of Webber Concessions of Buffalo, Wyo., is selling elephant ears and various flavors of lemonade at the fair.

It's her first time exhibiting at the Central States Fair, but she travels to other fairs and festivals throughout Wyoming and South Dakota.

Webber said she was evacuated from her stand about 6 p.m. Friday and told to go to the Event Center.

"We were over there for over an hour waiting for the storm to pass," she said.

She said business has been a little slow, but expects it to pick up. "It's slower than I would've liked," she said.

But she attributes part of that to what she is selling: elephant ears, which are basically fry bread sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar.

"It's kind of slow catching on," she said. "People know what funnel cakes are, but they're just catching on to these."

Contact Steve Miller at 394-8417 or steve.miller@rapidcityjournal.com