One of the key points of Veishea 1998 was to focus on the Cyclone Family — Iowa State students, faculty and staff, alumni and the Ames community.

The goal was to discourage out-of-town residents, the group who has been accused of creating many past Veishea celebration problems, from attending this year’s celebration.

But with outsiders avoiding Veishea, did Ames area businesses suffer a loss of sales?

The answer, it seems, is yes: sales were not as high as originally projected.

“We didn’t make what was expected; we definitely didn’t do the business [we were hoping for],” said Michael Broderick, owner of Jordan’s Hot Dogs, 131 Welch Ave.

He added that the business lost money at Friday night’s “Dew the Rec,” where a Jordan’s Hot Dog vendor was stationed.

“We were even, we didn’t make anything extraordinary like we planned,” Broderick said. “I would say the turnout was definitely less than previous years … [with] the prohibition and marshal law that went on, maybe [there was] a little too much police presence, too much fear.”

If a dry Veishea is to be attempted again, Broderick said, the rules and regulations must be built up gradually.

“You can’t put your foot down in one year. It causes a little bit of a backlash. It makes it really hard for people to support, and I think that was evident this year,” he said.

Alex Ruiz, manager of Panchero’s, 109 Welch Ave., said his business only made half the sales it did last Veishea.

“It was up from a normal weekend, but from Veishea last year, it was down,” he said.

Ruiz said he did not know why fewer people chose to come to this year’s Veishea, but he said there was no comparison to the business Panchero’s did last year.

Paul DeVries, manger of Cy’s Roost & Don’s Deli, 121 Welch Ave., said his business did fairly well during Veishea weekend.

“I hate to say it, but we made out pretty good,” DeVries said, adding that Cy’s is an older establishment and receives support from alumni. But, he said, “We did see a decrease in business, [about] 15 to 20 percent.”

During past Veishea weekends, business has tripled, DeVries said. “That’s a real rough estimate,” he said.

DeVries said he expected the decrease in business, since a greater number of people left Ames this year than in years past.

“I’d say the street vendors took a really good hit,” he said. “I’ve been at Iowa State since 1989 … and this was far and away, the least amount of people I’d seen out there,” he said.

But, DeVries said, although the money would have been good, a little less business is better than no Veishea.

“[Dry Veishea] was the right thing to do,” he said. “It makes people think before they drink.”

Nancy Erlandson, manager of McDonald’s, 217 Welch Ave., said sales were down, but “overall the feelings were pretty positive.” She predicted that sales will probably continue to increase with future alcohol-free Veishea celebrations.

As for off-campus businesses, Carlos O’Kelly’s, 631 Lincoln Way, manager Jeff Nafziger said his sales were down about 30 to 35 percent.

“I don’t think our location is good for Veishea. For us, I don’t really know how else to compare it,” he said.

Carol Chumos, manager of Ruttles ’50s Bar and Grill, 531 S. Duff Ave., said his sales were down “a little bit” from the usual traffic.

“Veishea is always better. It’s not the same as a normal Saturday — we didn’t see too much of a difference,” he said.