Garden, stage dedicated for fair volunteers

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MOSES LAKE - Fittingly, during the first day of the 101st Grant County Fair on Tuesday, two long-time fair volunteers were memorialized with two new fixtures.

The relocated Mary Ellen's Garden was reconstructed by local students and dedicated to Mary Ellen Breeden, while the newly constructed Carolyn Fisher Stage was dedicated to its namesake.

"I can't believe this," Breeden said. "It's an honor."

Breeden has been involved with the Grant County Fair in different capacities for nearly 50 years, including a 15-year stint on the fair board.

"There's just a lot of legacy with her," fairgrounds manager Jerry Gingrich said. "We're so glad we could honor her."

Grant County Commissioner Carolann Swartz has known Breeden for nearly 50 years.

Swartz said that Breeden initially had a vision to have a cool, green spot to the side of the fairgrounds for people to sit and relax, sort of like an oasis from the heat.

"Everybody out here started referring to that little spot as Mary Ellen's garden," she said. "This year, it was decided that Mary Ellen's Garden needed a formal place and a formal name."

The two ladies had worked together for 12 years at a local store on one condition:

"If you know this woman, you know that she's stubborn, which I like about her," Swartz said. "And so all the years that we worked together, she always had the week of the fair off."

Over the past four weeks, local SkillSource students have worked on the garden project from beginning to end.

"They got to design, construct and plan for the garden," said Al Valdez with SkillSource. "Basically, the learning was the project."

Eight students ages 16-18 started on the project, three of which are now working in the community.

Five students saw it through to completion, down the every detail: including designing a rock face that holds the dedication plaque.

Valdez said the students chose the project, and Grant County Fair was more than welcoming to them.

"I learned a bunch of things, like planning and designing most of the stuff, how to install underground water systems and how to plant flowers," said SkillSource student Eric Martinez, of Moses Lake. "I'm pretty proud about this. It's a good job."

Another student, Nathaniel Byrd of Moses Lake, said he'll walk away from the project with better construction skills.

All the students involved learned punctuality, work values and work readiness, Valdez said.

And while the garden is a little sparse this year, Swartz has high hopes for it.

"This was just completed," she said. "But could you imagine what this place is going to look like in a couple of years?"

Just across the field, more than a dozen people turned out to re-dedicate the newly constructed Carolyn Fisher Stage.

Fisher was the fairgrounds secretary for nearly 30 years, and spent some time as secretary for the Washington State Fairs Association.

She died May 19, 2006.

"I can't think of anybody more deserving than Carolyn for this," longtime friend Mick Hansen said to the crowd, many of whom were wiping tears from their eyes. "It's a beautiful structure, and it will be here for a lot of years."

The stage replaces the former mobile Fisher Stage, named for Carolyn and her husband Dale. It was completed earlier this year.

"The stage is kind of dedicated to both of them, but on the other hand, I think that the Carolyn Stage is going to be the name that goes down in history as far as what it's called," he said.