Aug 13, 2016 2 min read

WAYNESBURG – Attendence for this year’s Greene County Fair was low because the temperatures were high, according to Greene County Fair Manager Larry Marshall.

“People don’t come out in 90-degree weather,” he said.

Marshall said it wasn’t just Greene County that couldn’t take the heat. He said other county fairs going on this week had lower attendance than in recent years.

“Fayette County’s fair was this week, too, and they’re down by about 13 percent,” Marshall said.

Greene County Fair started Aug. 7 and ended Saturday. Temperatures remained in the mid-80s to low 90s all week.

But the hot weather wasn’t enough to prevent a crowd of more than 100 people from gathering around the annual wood carving auction at 5 p.m. Saturday.

Dennis Beach of Wapwallopen, Luzerne County, put on wood carving performances each day of the fair, making four carvings per day, from welcome bears to benches and bars. Beach said he’s been carving for 35 years and, in the summer, travels from state to state holding similar auctions at fairs.

“Every summer, I’m at a different fair every week until hunting season starts,” he said.

Beach has put on the auction in Greene County for 13 years. On Saturday, all 22 carvings he did during the week sold.

“Some pieces I’m really happy with and other pieces are heartbreaking because I spent a lot of time on them and they only bring in a little money,” he said.

Jim Hopkins, a member of the fair board, said he buys carvings from Beach every year and he bought two pieces Saturday.

“I’ve been all over the country looking for wood-working pieces,” Hopkins said. “Dennis does excellent work.”

One couple, Sandy and Joe Yates, came from Maryland to see Beach’s carvings and they bought one of a bear lying inside of a log. They said the auction is their favorite part of the fair.

“That’s why we came back this year,” Sandy Yates said. “It’s amazing.”