GRACE HEIMERL, LEFT, brings out her steer, Ollie, to join Dante Stachowicz and Apollo during the youth market beef show Sept. 2 at the 2022 Dickinson County Fair in Norway. Stachowicz, 15, won grand champion while Heimerl, 16, took reserve champion. The five-day fair saw record attendance. (Terri Castelaz/Daily News photo)

IRON MOUNTAIN — Attendance at the five-day Dickinson County Fair fell just shy of 60,000, a record for the Labor Day weekend event, Fair Board President John Degenaer Jr. said Monday.

Degenaer, a county commissioner from Norway and a longtime fair volunteer, said the Skerbeck Carnival reported $217,000 in revenues, also a record. While the 4-H animal market sale had fewer entries than in the past, gross receipts were about $125,000, he told the county board.

The lowest hog price was better than $8 per pound, Degenaer added. “We’re very satisfied,” he said.

Sheriff Scott Rutter said the event “went well,” mentioning a few cases of lost children being reunited with parents.

Both Degenaer and Commissioner Joe Stevens praised the efforts of the sheriff’s department.

“It was a lot of fun,” Stevens said. “It was a great fair.”

Attendance at the 2021 fair was 44,000, which came after the cancellation of most 2020 fair activities due to the pandemic. Attendance in 2019 had surpassed 50,000, after several years in which admissions were in the range of 35,000.

In other action Monday, the county board:

— Received an update from Controller Brian Bousley on plans to build a regional medical examiner’s office at Ford Airport. The county wants to have a facility in place for autopsies beginning in 2023, investing roughly $100,000. It would be staffed by Dr. Martin Cristanelli, a pathologist who serves as Dickinson’s medical examiner but who could also be contracted for autopsies as needed by other counties.

— Accepted Michigan Department of Transportation contracts for projects and equipment at the airport. The county will pay an estimated $52,190 share, or 5%, for a $950,401 vehicle with broom for snow removal, and a $5,188 share, or 5%, for a $103,760 runway crack sealing and paint marking project. The federal share for each is 90%, while MDOT’s maximum share is 5%.

— As requested by County Treasurer Lorna Carey, adopted a resolution to join Michigan Liquid Asset Fund Plus, a comprehensive cash management program created in 1987 by the Michigan Association of School Boards. Currently, 18-month investments are available that pay 2.9% interest, Bousley told the board. The vote was 3-1, with Commissioner Barbara Kramer saying she would like more information before consenting. Commissioner Ann Martin was absent.

— Appointed Steve Coron as an industry representative on the Solid Waste Management Planning Committee. Several vacancies remain.

— Heard Kramer, a member of Lake Antoine Park Partners, report that 78 vendors participated in the fifth-annual Crafty Flea Market on Saturday at Lake Antoine Park. The event benefits LAPP as well as Newspapers in Education. The event was successful, despite heavy rains at mid-afternoon. “Hopefully, next year the weather will be better,” Kramer said.

— Approved paying $1,000 in dues to the Upper Peninsula Commission on Area Progress and a $350 membership fee to the Northwoods Rail Transit Commission.

— Changed the date of its regular Monday, Dec. 26, meeting to Tuesday, Dec. 27.