For 100 years, the Cleveland County Fair has been the premier attraction in Shelby. But this year it is moved to Friday afternoon.

PURSUIT: The risk of flooding increases with persistent rain off Helene

Thursday was supposed to be opening day, but that changed as Hurricane Helene moved closer to the area. The turnstiles were silent and the only real noise came from the rain and wind that ruined the first day of the 100th annual fair.

“Sometimes it’s a hard pill to swallow,” said salesman Drew Ledbetter.

He had his crews stocking sodas on Thursday in anticipation of Friday afternoon.

“Nobody wants to come out and walk around in the rain,” he said.

Emergency Management Director Perry Davis said if opening day had remained Thursday, some people might have tried to attend, but conditions were too unsafe. He said the rain alone could cause flooding and made parking on the grass a dirty mess for hundreds of fairgoers.

“Most people don’t have ATVs,” Davis said.

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He said a combination of rain and wind forced them to close. He said the largest rides, like the Ferris wheel, might look suspicious in high winds, but the giant anchors could hold it in place in gusts of 50 to 70 miles per hour.

Small tent sellers aren’t so lucky. Many of them use pop-up tents. Wind gusts of 20 to 40 miles per hour from Helene could lift them slightly.

“They basically built a steel support structure around it and tried to secure it to the ground as best they could,” Davis said. “However, some of them are just aluminum poles and tarps.”

Ledbetter’s units are made of wood and brick structures, but he is willing to let Mother Nature take over the main event on mid-Thursday and try again on the second day.

The emergency services assume that everything that comes from Helene will be gone by Friday evening. This is important because most people are there on the first weekend of the trade fair.

The weather has already interrupted the trade fair several times. In 2022, it was shut down for several hours when a possible funnel cloud was discovered nearby.

(SEE BELOW: Hurricane Helene is upgraded to a Category 2 storm; here’s how it will impact the Carolinas)