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RALEIGH - For 10 days each October, the State Fairgrounds turns into a city: 80,000 people a day milling about, eating all manner of fried food, plunging earthward in death-defying rides, wearing silly hats and roaring at the tractor pull and demolition derby. At about 800,000 visitors a year, it's considered the state's single biggest event. But all the blare, glare and bluster of the State Fair is managed not by a farmer or a showman, but by a reserved, understated man with a degree in business administration. "You name it, we've got it all out here," said Wesley Wyatt, 49, the fairgrounds' manager since 1997. During the fair, at least 2,000 workers, 175 food stands, 108 rides and 10 nights' worth of entertainers ranging from Fantasia to Christian rock group Third Day are deployed on the 344-acre grounds. And even though the fairgrounds has its own police force to deal with the crowds, events can still be unpredictable, to say the least. Last year, an outbreak of E. coli bacteria that infected more than 100 people - mainly children - was traced to a petting zoo at the fair, leading to more fencing and more hand-washing stations. With a new midway operator this year, more than 10 rides didn't clear safety inspections before the fair opened Oct. 15. And every now and then, a carney gets in trouble. "You just take things as they present themselves," Wyatt said. From the Kerr Scott Building that overlooks the "campus" that turns into a medium-size city every fall, Wyatt compares his job to that of a city manager. "The things I worry about are the things someone running a municipality worries about," he said. "Are the water lines working? Are the electrical lines working? Is the trash getting picked up?" At a new, $6 million Exposition Center that was cleared for use the night before the fair opened this year, he points with pride to a women's restroom that has 29 stalls - twice as many as the men's - plus a room for nursing mothers. "We have to meet consumer demand, and there is a demand for more restrooms," he said. "It's not perfect by a long shot, but we've helped the situation out." When one Methodist church decided to no longer run a food stand at the fair five years ago, Wyatt's staff contacted the church's bishop, and another Methodist church moved in. "We wanted to preserve the church and civic flavor," he said. "We think it's important to have concessionaires which are charitably based." And when pizza vendor Rick Barcena's wife had a baby the night before the fair opened 12 years ago, Wyatt reserved a space for the couple's camper and made sure a security guard checked on mother and son every day, far from their home in Tampa, Fla. As for the challenges Wyatt faces, "It's like the restaurant industry," Barcena said. "It can change in hours. Anybody that's out here has to be adaptable to change." Though he says he doesn't have a favorite ride or exhibit, Wyatt does profess bemusement at one evolving - or devolving - fair attraction. "I'm always surprised at the kinds of foods that you can fry," he said. "Apparently you can fry anything." Over the years, vendors have learned to deep-fry candy bars, Twinkies, even dill pickles that yes, people buy and ingest along with more traditional gastronomic adventures like turkey legs, corn dogs and cotton candy. The fair gets no money from the General Assembly and is self-sustaining, generating $9million a year in revenue and $5 million in expenses. The Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau estimates that the 10-day fair fills almost 2,200 hotel rooms, attracts 663,000 day visitors, creating a total economic impact of more than $17 million a year. "The fair's not an economic drain. The fair is an economic influx," Wyatt said. "You've got unemployed people who are out here working at these food booths," said Ray Frost, the event coordinator for the fair. "It's a way for a lot of people to make Christmas money," Wyatt said. But the fairgrounds doesn't go dormant with the post-fair cleanup that ended yesterday. "We're open for business every day of the year except Christmas," Wyatt said. One of the largest flea markets in the Southeast is a fixture at the fairgrounds 47 weekends a year, featuring as many as 300 antique and collectibles dealers who offer everything from birdhouses to fudge to tuxedos. The fairgrounds is host to more than 500 nonfair events a year: farm, auto, gun, boat, RV, dog and horse shows, women's and wedding shows, coin and baseball-card shows, Greek and Lebanese festivals, Mexican Independence Day and Vietnamese New Year celebrations. "We're constantly in transition," said Claudine Davis, the sales director for the complex. "The 10-day state fair is the state's largest event. But on a year-round basis, we're going." On a single weekend next March, for example, the complex will play host to a Raleigh Rebels arena football game, an Indian festival, a children's clothing sale, a coin and stamp show, a paintball tournament, a horse show, an Iranian cultural gathering, plus the ever-popular flea market. Officials estimate that nonfair events generate $1 million to $3 million a year in revenue. "The state fair runs all year around. Most people don't realize that," said Dempsey Means, the grounds foreman. "The fairgrounds never close." "It's not dull. You have a cycle of activity," he said. "You have a frenzy of activity in October." This is cache, read story here
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