Rural roots part of fair's fun

Entertainer Roy Clark has seen more than a few fairs in his lifetime.

"It wasn't that many years ago that it was the only entertainment these people who farmed and worked the land had," said Clark. "They worked from sunup to sundown; they had a family to raise; they didn't make so much money."

Clark, who will perform Tuesday at the Evergreen State Fair in Monroe, said he never tires of playing fairs.

"The more you see, the more there is to see," he said. "State fairs represent America."

The Snohomish County fair opens Thursday and continues through Sept. 4.

Mark Campbell, the manager of the fair, likes to compare it to a birthday party — for more than 800,000 people.

"You don't get to see everybody that you want to, talk to everybody that you wish," Campbell said. "Things need to be ready because the guests are coming. It's a lot of excitement and celebration, all wrapped into 12 long, fun-filled days."

Excitement builds

The weekend before the fair, the pulse quickens. The carnival rides start being set up, the animal barns and pavilions are airing out, and people steadily file through the big double doors of the Display Hall, which will hold exhibits of honey, needle arts, photography, education, hand spinning, weaving, agriculture, fine arts, floriculture, crafts and hobbies.

In the competitive-exhibit program alone, more than 82 superintendents oversee specific departments.

Corky Savoie, a 15-year fair veteran, sat at a table putting paperwork with entries in hand-spinning, weaving and basketry. Savoie started as an entrant and demonstrator, and after a lean year in which no one was in charge, she ended up overseeing a category, putting in 14-hour days.

"I live here," Savoie said. "I bring my trailer and literally live at the grounds."

Savoie has three assistants. They're all needed. The amount of paperwork and judging tabulations for these entries might rival the workload of a city hall.

"When I first started, we had 200 people entering," said Thomas Russo, the photography superintendent.

That was 14 years ago. This year, Russo estimated that he'd hang more than 1,200 images.

Russo and his family work the fair each year "because every time we come back, it's like time has stopped," Russo said. "The only thing that people notice is the kids have grown. It's a big family. And it's values you find every day. There's a hominess, and you suddenly realize the work and effort people put into things that we take for granted.

"We go to the supermarket and say, 'Oh, yeah, that's a nice steak.' Here, you meet the people who are raising them."

Elaine Wilson, who with her husband, Dale, runs Glen Gyle Farm near Everett, is sharing superintendent duties in the open-class-wool department this year with daughter-in-law Julie Wilson, and for them it's a full-time job. That's in addition to running a farm with 100 head of sheep and goats.

"We hire the judges and the clerks, obtain the hostesses, plan the displays," said Elaine Wilson. "The people can watch the judging, so it's a learning experience. And we have people doing demonstrations."

It's not just a matter of award money, and the ribbons represent more than keepsakes to pin on a corkboard in a barn. It's also about connecting the dots between the grocery and the family farm, Campbell said.

"These are the pieces, that blue ribbon, that premier of that species," he said, "and what judges look for, how well do they fit within the standards of that industry.

"I know the dramas that play out in the judging rings and, before that, the hours that go into making them that model for that standard. It's really quite fascinating to see."

Preserving rural life

An article this month in The New York Times said attendance is down at fairs across the country, though Jim Tucker, the president and chief executive of the International Association of Fairs and Expositions, told the paper that Washington's fairs, like those in a handful of other states, remain successful.

Yet Western Washington has seen a loss of farmland and a decline in the number of farmers in King, Pierce and Snohomish counties in the past 20 years, County Executive Aaron Reardon said. Reardon served on agricultural and ecology committees as a state legislator, and in county government he has initiated efforts to help agriculture.

"We recognize that farming's a business," he said.

Much like the state has provided tax breaks and other incentives for such economic sectors as aerospace, manufacturing and biomedical technology, "what we've done is we've applied those same principles to farming," said Reardon. "That's what you're starting to see: regulation reform toward farmers that helps them become competitive and doesn't hurt the environment."

"The [state] Growth Management Act helped designate agriculture as a resource land area," said John Roney, the Snohomish County agricultural coordinator. "It's one thing to have the land, but we also need the farmers. We have to help them make more money, connect with people using their products."

Having a farming background, Campbell, the fair manager, understands the attachments and the moments of excitement — knowing that the bloodlines you tried to pair came out just right in a newborn calf, or working so hard training a dog for an agility maneuver and seeing it performed perfectly when a judge is watching.

Campbell, 47, grew up around beef cattle and participated in Future Farmers of America and 4-H. In Northern California, he also hired himself out to care for, prepare and show livestock. From there, he said, "I realized that there was potentially a career in fairs."

This is Campbell's fourth fairground. He was an assistant manager of the National Orange Show Festival grounds in San Bernardino, Calif. He went on to the Shasta District Fair, a small community fair near Redding, Calif., and then to the King County Fair in Enumclaw before coming to Snohomish County.

Campbell manages the facility year round. Staffing changes drastically at fair time, suddenly going from a staff of 25 full-time workers to nearly 400 positions.

But last year, there were 1,083 events held at the fairgrounds other than the fair.

"Those [events] have got a very important role within the fairgrounds," he said. "The development impact from our year-round operations and the fair is in excess of $24 million a year. We're a showcase not only for events and activities in this community — we're the convention center here in the east part of the county."

The fairgrounds are a self-supporting unit of Snohomish County Parks and Recreation.

"As a department or a division of the county, we're unique in the context in that we're expected to cover our own expenses," Campbell said. "We're able to generate revenues to cover our expenses and also reinvest in ourselves."

Campbell sees a visit to the fair as a way for all county residents to more fully experience where they live.

"Here," he said, "we offer the whole expanse of what are the interests and passions of the community, what is happening in the community, and they're likely to see people that they don't see except when they come to the fair."

Diane Wright: 425-745-7815 or dwright@seattletimes.com