Fair hottest on record

The 167th St. Joseph County Grange Fair could very well go in the annals as the hottest ever, with the seven-day average high at 87 degrees.

In a media release issued by fair manager Bill Johnson, records that date to the 1960s show there hasn’t been a week at the fair as hot as it was this year, he said.

He said opening day in 1991 saw the temperature hit the low 90s and the final day six days later, the high temperature was 58 degrees.

Despite the extreme heat this year, Johnson said attendance remained strong in 2017. Preliminary figures show it drew 135,000 people, nearly a 10 percent decrease from last year, he said.