DALLAS -
Still have some leftover coupons from the State Fair of Texas? Visitors this year didn't spend a record amount, but it was close.
According to Sue Gooding, spokeswoman for the State Fair, $36.6 million worth of coupons were sold this year.
That's $2 million more than last year, but not as high as the 2010 all-time record of $37.3 million.
Coupons, which cost 50 cents each, are used to buy food, admission to rides, and participation of games on the Midway.
A surge of Big Tex nostalgia combined with lovely weather drove lots of visitors to Fair Park for the last weekend of the fair. Visitors reported long lines for both food and rides.
Many came to see the spot where Big Tex, the iconic symbol of the fair for decades, stood until he burned in an electrical fire on Friday morning.
Flowers, cards, wreaths and even bouquets of corny dogs were laid on Big Tex Circle over the weekend. Fair officials took Big Tex's metal skeleton down shortly after the flames were put out.
Gooding promises Big Tex will return next year, bigger and better.
"We believe that there will be improved mechanics to make everything a little smoother in movement," Gooding said on Good Day Monday morning. "We really have from now until June to get the body structure completed. Then, in the summer, we'll get the new outfit made."
One sponsor has already pledged $10,000 for renovation.
