INDIANAPOLIS (WRTV) Crowds at the Indiana State Fair were larger than usual Sunday as visitors sought last-minute rides, games, and food on the final day.While vendors said severe weather hurt profits during the first week at t he fairgrounds, the final week brought a significant turnaround. The fair, which typically runs from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m., saw a surge in attendance as the skies cleared.70-year-old Greg Clay runs an Indianapolis-based lemonade shake-up stand and has served Hoosiers at the fair for more than 45 years.The day that we had the storm that was really bad that flip our tent over and blew everything up. We closed early and lost a lot of profit that day but business has been good. The crowd has been good. I think we're making it up, Clay said.Clay, who sells 9,000 lemonades on a busy day, attributes his success to his recipe.We're the best lemonade because I use simple syrup and alot of people use sugar. I use simple syrup and it makes a better product, he said.Clay is not the only vendor seeing a boost. Hanna Kelley, director of health and wellness for the American Dairy Association of Indiana, helped run the Indiana Farmers Dairy Bara fair staple.We will absolutely have great numbers by the end of today, Kelley said. We won't know until a little bit later once we officially closed this evening exactly what our numbers will be, but I feel like even though we're really slow in the beginning so many people have come out this week that were going to be in great shape.On the final day alone, the Dairy Bar sold more than 19,000 chocolate shakes and more than 15,000 big dill cheese sandwiches.Leroy Lewis III, an Indiana State Fair spokesperson, said it is too soon to provide exact attendance totals, but noted that Hoosiers arrived in large numbers after the storms passed.We opened on $2 Tuesday and we had a great turnout, Lewis said. Lots of people came. We probably had the third best $2 Tuesday we ever had on campus. We see that as a way Hoosiers are saying we want to get to the fair and make new traditions and make more memories.Clay, whose tent flew off during the storm, already has a strategy for next year.Make sure I tie down better, he said.For many vendors, the final weekend provided a necessary financial lift. After two weeks of operation, the fair reached what many called a sweet end. ...read more read less