50 years ago in Expo history: The fair saw its lowest attendance day yet, but its general manager held out hope

The word “deficit” crept in to Expo ’74 general manager Petr Spurney’s weekly news conference.

“If the fair had ended Aug. 31, we’d have lost $41,582,” Spurney said.

Yet Spurney still had hopes that the fair would break even. He said that it continued to meet the break-even attendance projections.

Despite having the fair’s lowest attendance day ever the day before – 11,629 – Spurney said that was still higher than the projected low attendance for this stage of the fair. He was confident that weekend attendance would surge, and he was also hopeful that planned special events in October – including a Columbus Day event – would lure crowds.

In other Expo news, Porter Wagoner and Conway Twitty received standing ovations during their dual concert at the Opera House. A reviewer said that the audience “clapped as it recognized almost every song both men began singing.”

One notable no-show: Dolly Parton.

Parton had quit as Wagoner’s duet partner just a few months earlier. Barbara Lea was introduced at the concert as Parton’s replacement.

From 100 years ago: The third day of the Alan Stampede – a rodeo at the Alan race track/stadium near Post Falls – was canceled on Sunday because of a protest by ministers from Coeur d’Alene and Post Falls.

The ministers were against entertainment events on Sundays.

Sunday was intended to be the last day of the rodeo. Between 8,000 and 10,000 people attended the rodeo’s Saturday event, “sufficiently large to justify the repetition of the show at an earlier date next year.”