Neppel Days no more

A lack of participation has caused the end of an era. Neppel Days, a standard at the Grant County Fair and other places, has ended when few people were in attendance.

However all is not lost, as others will grab the banner and continue to move forward in the same time slot, 1 p.m. on Wednesday of fair week and at the same location, the Huck Fuller Building.

The preliminary idea is to name the event Grant County Pioneer Days or some such name. The two-hour get-together would be aimed at gathering all who are interested in the history of our county. This means people from Coulee City, Quincy, Krupp, Ephrata, Grand Coulee and all of the other towns and cities. Fair attendees who have never visited our county before would also be invited.

A presentation may provide a bit of our history, followed by ample time for visiting with friends. Stay tuned for more information.

Selling liquid for Joy and Jim

One of my fun things to do at the Grant County Fair at this stage of my life is to sell drinks for Joy and Jim Duzon during the Demo Derby and the rodeo. This year my duties include standing near the vomitory (yes this is an actual, authentic and valid word, look it up), and selling the cold drinks in the cooler.

You see, Joy and Jim, Top Gun Concessions, are known for their delicious food sold at fairs, festivals and other catering assignments. Their fame, prominence and notoriety in the concession business have customers willing to stand in line to order their food.

However, Joy and Jim realize the unfairness of having to wait in line if all the customer wants or needs is a bottle of water. This is where I come in. The customer stops at my location to order and pay for the drink of their choice without standing in the food line. In the cooler are cola, orange, root beer, lemon-lime soda and more.

This year I was on duty for the past two nights, plus tonight, Friday. The fifth person to come up to me tonight and give me the definition of a vomitory will receive a drink of their choice from the cooler on me.

The celebrity status of Joy and Jim became clear Wednesday evening when a cowgirl approached me saying, "I live in Wyoming and travel the rodeo circuit throughout the western states. The highlight of my annual travels is coming to Moses Lake and eating at this food booth."

Wow, now this is a compliment of the highest regard; completely unsolicited. I asked the woman to wait and brought Jim over to meet the woman and hear what she had to say.

So, there I will be tonight, near the vomitory. Stop by to say hello.

Grant County Fairs; Cheryl covers them, past and present

E-mail from Cheryl

Facts from the past gleaned from the Moses Lake Herald, Columbia Basin Herald and The Neppel Record by Cheryl (Driggs) Elkins:

From the Columbia Basin Herald on Sept. 9, 1949:

Trophy for grange display offered

Al Hill had to buy a new trophy this year to be awarded for the best decorated grange booth at the county fair. Hill started awarding trophies for the best booth two years ago and said that any grange winning twice in succession could keep the cup.

The Adrian Grange won the award at the 1947 and 1948 fairs. So this year there's a new trophy, of a victory statue, on a bronze cup, all mounted on a heavy walnut base, with a plate for engraving of the winner's name.

From the Columbia Basin Herald on Sept. 14, 1950:

Fair, rodeo sidelights

Rep. Hal Homes (R. Wash.) spent Saturday afternoon watching the parade and taking in the fair. He bought the usual ticket on a steer from a member of the Grant County Cattlemen's Association and forgot about it, until George Delany called him Monday to inform him he'd won half a beef.

"That's the first thing I ever won like that," Holmes said.

Then he turned it over to the Grant County 4-H clubs to be used at their annual camp at Sun Lakes State Park. Winner of the other half of beef was George Starkel of Marlin.

Another sidelight

Frank (Tub) Hansen, rodeo association president didn't get to see the show because he was flat on his back in the hospital with a fractured leg. Members of the association presented him with a silver belt buckle engraved with his name and address and the date of the rodeo. Hansen was taken to a Spokane hospital Wednesday to have the break reset. He and his wife thanked rodeo members and other friends for the buckle and for the flowers.

Another sidelight

Thanks also were expressed by the Moses Lake Grange to those who helped them with their food preparation during the fair. Mentioned were Dorner-Wise, Inc. for use of a grill, Centennial Flour Co. for pancake and waffle flour and many grangers who contributed time, fruit and vegetables. Special thanks were aimed at Bill Hattori, Ralph Walton and Bette Mae Saunders.

Another sidelight

Fair directors met this week and marveled at all the work that somehow got done before the fair opened and at the crowd of visitors that topped any previous year's attendance. They said the fair never would appear if volunteers of all skills, granges, booth decorators, 4-H members supervisors and nearly every farm family in all Grant County didn't go to work and this year was the biggest and best so far.

Then the weary directors said thank you to all of Grant County, and large parts of many others, for their patronage and attendance.