‘Something for everybody’: New events coordinator starts at Grant County Fairgrounds

MOSES LAKE — Allan Williams, the new events coordinator at the Grant County Fairgrounds, makes sure events run smoothly and comes up with new attractions.

He’s been on the job since the beginning of August, joining right before the busiest week of the year. The Herald interviewed him in mid-September.

“I started, actually, I think it was two weeks prior to the fair. It was just spinning in circles for two weeks,” Williams said. “And when the fair ended, it was like, ‘Holy cow.’ And then when I stopped after the fair I realized, ‘That was crazy, and it was a ton of work, but it was really fun.’”

While the fair is the biggest event, it’s hardly the only one. And part of Williams’ job is to make sure organizations and individuals renting the fairgrounds have everything they need.

“What I do is help facilitate all the events that are scheduled,” he said. “And I’m kind of the contact with people who are renting the facility.”

Events have been postponed, canceled or rescheduled in the last 18 months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But when there are no restrictions, the fairgrounds hosts weddings, a weekend of tractor pulling, livestock shows, local fundraisers, quinceañeras, and trade shows and is open for campers from spring through fall.

“We have quinceañeras often. We’re booking these clear into September, October of 2022,” he said.

“We are one of the premiere equestrian centers in the state,” Williams added. “We had a very large barrel racing (competition) last weekend (Sept. 11); this weekend (Sept. 18), we have Arabian horses here at the fairgrounds, and the following weekend (Sept. 25), we have quarter horses and llamas.”

The goal, he said, is to provide a venue to accommodate almost any kind of event.

“It’s nice that we have the opportunity here, and the facility here. It’s a great facility. We have room to do different things for different folks. That’s the idea, find out what people want, and then try to allow or produce things that provide something for everybody.”

The fairgrounds has produced a few of its own events in the past, and Williams said he wants to continue that and possibly add more when restrictions are lifted.

“There are some things we’d like to do,” he said. “We’re really interested in doing a Dia de los Muertos festival of some sort.”

Williams said he wants to do an event showcasing the town’s history and heritage and its connection with Chief Moses. And since he spent three decades in the wine industry, he’s interested in food and beverage events.

”I do miss the wine business a little bit, so I’m trying to do something that hearkens back to my experience of the last many years,” he said.

Williams grew up in Pendleton, Oregon, and said Grant County reminds him of the Pendleton area.

“Which is nice, after living in many big cities,” he said.

Most of his career, about 31 years, has been spent in the wine and beverage industry, he said.

“I’ve worked for wine distributors. I had my own wine business and for the last 14 years, I’ve worked with Jones of Washington winery as their sales and marketing director,” he said.

His career in sales has taken him from Pendleton to the San Francisco Bay area to Seattle, which is where, he said, he married his wife Allison. Currently, Allison Williams is the city manager for Moses Lake.

“One of our hobbies was the wine industry, so we would visit wineries on the way to and from (visiting) our families,” he said. “One day I reached out to a wine distributor in Spokane, and said, ‘Hey, we’re thinking of moving to Spokane.’ And he hired me, and for the next 30 years I was either selling wine or micro-beers.”

Williams said even though he misses his old job, he likes his new job.

“There’s never a dull moment, and no two days are the same,” he said.