Standing by himself in the center of the midway, Michael Burnette watched as hundreds of fairgoers passed by.

Every so often he cried out to the crowd, inviting people to try their luck at his game. While business is usually strong for game managers at the Great New York State Fair, Burnette said this year people aren’t spending money.

‘Everybody’s saying they’re broke,’ Burnette said, tossing one of the game balls into the air. ‘They don’t want to spend money. Either that or they ain’t got any.’

Burnette attributes the lagging business to the post-Sept. 11 economy. But despite stagnant spending in some areas, the event still managed to survive a year when many businesses felt the strain of a weak economy.

While some of the more than 1,500 vendors’ businesses suffered from visitors unwilling to spend money, the fair overall will benefit from people who forfeited larger vacations this summer and stayed close to home, said Donald Dutkowsky, a Syracuse University professor of economics.

‘It’s a driving destination,’ he said. ‘With September 11, people do not want to get on planes, and some people may be substituting their trip to Disney World with a trip to the state fair.’

This year, fair planners attempted to draw people from greater distances, said Fair Director Peter Cappuccilli, Jr. A new partnership with Amtrak trains brought people via railroad from all over the state. The dedication of the Sept. 11 memorial drew more people from New York City, including about 250 relatives of survivors of the terrorist attacks and recovery efforts, he added.

Attendance remained strong throughout the fair, despite a few days of bad weather, Cappuccilli said. During its 12-day run, 1,003,473 people attended the fair, about 8,000 short of last year’s record.

‘The fair provides something for everyone at a very moderate price or nothing at all,’ Cappuccilli said.

Some vendors, including most of the food suppliers, offer their products at such inexpensive prices that some fairgoers can’t help but take advantage.

‘You don’t have to spend a lot of money unless you want to,’ said Linda Marsh, a fairgoer from Syracuse. ‘I just finished a pint of ice cream for 99 cents. You really can’t beat that.’

Stephen Davis, president of Gianelli Sausage company, said this year his business earned about the same profit as in past years. He added that the fair is the company’s primary opportunity to market new products to a diverse audience.

But not all fair attractions offer such appealing bargains. Most activities, including games and rides, are luxury items that people will trim out of their budgets, Dutkowsky said.

The cutbacks are evident back on the midway where Michael Katura sits shuffling a handfull of bills, barking rules for his ring toss game into a microphone.

Despite a steady crowd of people lingering around the game, Katura said the game has lost money. Instead of lining up to play, most people in the crowd just stand back and watch others pull money from their wallets.

‘You can just tell by their presence,’ Katura said. ‘They’re not as willing to spend money.’

Published on September 2, 2002 at 12:00 pm