With hundreds of candied apples sold, more Polish sausages digested than can be immediately counted, about $40,000 in prize money awarded, at least two dozen Looney Tunes Band-Aids applied and "maybe millions" of smiles produced, the 149th annual Georgia State Fair came to a close Sunday.

Advanced ticket sales and good weather this past weekend helped offset a rainy start and likely made this a better-attended year than last year, said fair executive director Harold Carlisle. Carlisle said 89,392 tickets were sold in 2003 and, while the numbers hadn't been computed as of Sunday afternoon, "I'm almost certain that we're going to top that this year."

Earlier in the week, after stormy weather hampered the fair's opening, Carlisle likened the obstacle to a rain delay for an Atlanta Braves game.

"We finished the game and it was well played," he said Sunday. "And we won."

Tremaine Carswell of Milledgeville also won Sunday, as evidenced by a stuffed yellow M&M character in a birdcage.

He scored with a water gun and successfully blasted a balloon with a dart, earning the M&M figure and another prize he gave his mother.

Carswell, 13, said his favorite ride was the Gravitron, a spinning spaceship-looking disc that lifts riders off the floor using centrifugal force.

Chip Long of Macon, also 13, said he enjoyed the Ferris wheel and trying to scare his mother by rocking their carriage while raised high in the air.

Carlisle said 15 of the 52 rides this year were in the "spectacular" category, three times the inventory of years past. Brian Morrissey of Illinois-based Midwest Midways said a ride's popularity depends on the region.

In Macon, he said, folks prefer "hit 'em, get 'em" thrills more than rides that go high. He said the top-sellers were the Wind Shear ("like sitting in the middle of a egg beater"), the Thunder Bolt, which whirls free-swinging tubs around in a circle, and an upside-down roller-coaster known as the Ring of Fire.
Tickets to all rides are counted by weight, not by hand, a task that hadn't been completed as of Sunday afternoon, he said.

Chip Long's younger brother, 10-year-old Alex, said his next choice for entertainment is "probably not a spin ride, because I just ate a lot of cotton candy."

Lisa Keaton of the White Plains, N.Y., area said she had sold more than 1,000 portions of cotton candy during the fair and at least 500 candied apples. Carolyn Flynn of Columbus, Ohio, said the fastest mover was "red with cinnamon," but apples with sprinkles and chocolate also drew many takers.

William O'Brien of the Lower East Side of Manhattan said that Saturday was a great day for sales.

"I did six cases of Polish sausages yesterday alone," with 45 to 50 sausages in each case, he said Sunday.

Ed Barbee, a volunteer paramedic with the Macon-Bibb County Emergency Management Agency, said 18 cases of "upset stomach" made for the most common complaint at the fair's first aid station. There were 27 major cases, such as a seizure, but mostly kids with minor scrapes came by for a bright-colored bandage.

About a dozen children reported to the "lost" tent, said Randy Autry of the Exchange Club of Macon, which runs the fair. The longest a "lost" child had to wait was a "couple of hours," Autry said, but there's always been a reunion.

"We've never lost one yet," he said with a smile.