Fairgoers line up as tickets go on sale

Fairground renovations in lull as city, county seek agreement

GRANT COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS — People were getting up before the crack of dawn Wednesday to get the best spaces for this year's Grant County Fair.

"We're heavier than usual," said fair and facilities manager Al Holman. "We've had people here early before, but usually the line's about 15, 20. It was close to 40 this time."

Holman explained that there is only so much reserved interior parking. After the fair board assigns space out as far as internal operations go, he said, all spaces are first come, first served and those that want the better spaces line up early.

"We sell reserve tickets from [Wednesday] on, including carnival wristbands," Holman said, adding that the fair administration is pleased that the carnival prices are not as high due to diesel fuel prices as they had feared.

"I wanted to get the pavilion space for camping," explained Chandra Olson, who had been in line waiting since 5:30 a.m. and estimated she was about 10th in line. The office opened at 8 a.m. "They're the prime spots, and you're hooked up for your sewer and your water right there, so you can shower in your camper; you don't have to use the bathrooms."

Quincy resident Darlene Knutson had been in line since 8:30 a.m. and noted that some people had been waiting since 3:30 a.m. Normally she waits to get her tickets, she said, but last year she had a hard time getting inside parking.

Betty Pearce was less than pleased with the process, having arrived shortly after 8 a.m. and coming from around Wilson Creek.

"It sucks," she said. "There wasn't that many people in front. They've been here since 3 a.m., but they've sold everything out before anybody even gets here. They're selling 10, nine spaces to one person … This happens all the time, and it's ridiculous. If you come here and stand in line, you should be able to have a shot at it without having somebody in front of you buying 20 spaces."

Gary Ribail, fair board member and chairman of the camping and parking committee, said that there has never been a problem.

"There's no restrictions on spaces you buy, no rule against it," Ribail said. "It's never been a problem, so we've never had to address it. If it becomes a problem, I guess we'll have to address it."

Holman said that preparations for the fair itself are progressing nicely, and applauded the fair board for their planning, including the Pacific Science Center's interactive traveling exhibit "Blood & Guts" exhibit that will be on display in the Youth Building.

He called the fairgrounds as an enterprise "a balancing act of money." There is a mandate for the grounds to be self-sustaining, and fair administration must also balance that with the mandate to provide community service. Youth activities, which are still charged money to use the grounds, are actually a money loss each time one is held, Holman said, noting that 15 youth weekends in the equine area did not have the opportunity for profitability.

In addition, there is concern that high gasoline prices may hurt the grounds' most profitable events: recreational vehicle rallies. Last year, prices were up and revenue was down about 10 percent from the year before that.

Compared to other single events, the Grant County Fair might be expensive to produce, but is the most profitable, Holman said. Becoming self-sustaining is harder to do, which is the reason for the renovations to the fairgrounds. But without an interlocal agreement between the city of Moses Lake and the Grant County commissioners, renovations on the fairgrounds are in a holding pattern.

Because the fairgrounds uses a septic system, regulations for the size of the system are based on maximum capacity.

"We're the largest town in the county Saturday at County Fair," Holman said with a chuckle. "The population's here, there's that many people. The septic systems have to handle that much, and that's what the regulatory law says, so you're talking football-plus sized fields to put in for a new restroom."

Holman said he wished things had meshed better and quicker with the city and the county, because the sooner the grounds have facilities that are year-round, the sooner they have the assets to become self-sustaining. This would allow for the Grant County Fairgrounds start relying on money generated by the fair to put into entertainment and other activities, and stop its dependency on taxpayer dollars.

"For us to do the major development, we need to become self-sustaining, we need our sewer and water issues set," Holman said. "It can't happen without it. The fairgrounds will not progress, it will actually regress without those issues addressed, and soon."