THE BALLOON MAN

SONOMA-MARIN-FAIR

PART 1

Sonoma-Marin Fair opening day--World's Ugliest Dog Contest
By LORI A. CARTERTHE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Sonoma-Marin, California
Monday, June 27, 2011
“We had a phenomenal fair,” said spokeswoman Vicki DeArmon, who was tallying up the five-day attendance figures on Monday.
Preliminary totals show attendance was up almost 5 percent from last year, although final figures won’t be complete until July. Several events were packed to capacity or had overflow crowds and attendance at every special event was up, DeArmon said.
Dual Saturday night concerts featuring Blue Oyster Cult and Foghat packed the crowds in almost 40 percent greater than last year and better than Saturdays in the previous five years. Sunday’s closing “family day,” featuring the car-crunching destruction derby and the popular Fiesta Latina, was the second-highest attendance day in the last five years.
“We had a constant flow of people at the gate,” said fair chief executive Patricia Conklin.
And, of course, the internationally famous World’s Ugliest Dog contest drew unfortunate-looking canines and their owners — and thousands of gawkers — on Friday night. Photos of the cringe-worthy winner, a 14-year-old fuzzy teacup-size mutt named Yoda, quickly made news dispatches sent out around the world. Yoda, all 1.8 pounds of her, and her owner, Terry Schumacher of Hanford, beat out 28 other contestants to win $1,000, a trophy 15 times bigger than Yoda and Internet fame.read more at:http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20110627/COMMUNITY/110629533?Title=Sonoma-Marin-Fair-draws-record-crowds