Keeping the fair moving

MOSES LAKE — It looks - easy. Participants in livestock competition at the Grant County Fair enter the arena, they’re checked off, and at the end, the right ribbon goes to the right person. A hungry fairgoer walks up to a food booth run by a local nonprofit organization and places an order, and the right order arrives.

From the ribbons to the Spaceburgers, it all runs pretty smoothly.

It's the people over at the folding table next to the show ring, and the crews that are kind of out sight, staffing the food booths and the exhibit buildings, that make it look easy.

Most of them are volunteers. Fairgrounds manager Jim McKiernan estimated it took about 250 volunteers to help the fair run smoothly.

The organizations that operate the fundraising food booths find their own volunteers, and for some, it’s been a struggle.

The volunteers overseeing competitions and running the food booths said it provides its own rewards.

Carol Garneau and her husband Mike have been volunteering for the cattle show for about 30 years. The young people that were exhibiting when the Garneaus started now have children of their own, she said.

“It’s generational. You see the families and their kids come back and show,” she said. “Watching the families, their kids come back into the program, see their skills build.”

Garneau was in charge of the paperwork Wednesday afternoon, checking off the exhibitors as they led their steers into the ring. Jessica Chamberlain was doing the same thing for swine competitors.

“I make sure that all of the people within their class have all checked in and are ready to go,” Chamberlain said. “Then once the class has their placings, I just (record) their placings so that they’ll be in the sale guide. And then making sure they’re getting their ribbons and getting that lined out.”

Tawna Sandman and Jana Raymond were doing the same job for the lamb fitting and showing competition Thursday morning. Sandman has been superintendent of the lamb show for eight years, she said, and Raymond has been assisting her for three years.

Both are veterans of the show ring, and their children showed animals too. Their children are grown, but both women said they like staying involved.

“We never left the show ring,” Sandman said.

It’s a chance to support the youth programs, a way to give back to 4-H and FFA and to the community at large, Raymond said.

Keeping the volunteering going was part of the reason Juli Rasmussen was working the Moses Lake Lions food booth.

“The thing about the service clubs like this is they were started so many years ago, and if people my age and younger don’t get more involved, those clubs will go away,” Rasmussen said.

“And it’s just tradition,” she added. “It’s part of the fair that you come out, have fun, and do your part. And enjoy all of the community out there.”

Rasmussen was part of the crew preparing the dough for the lion ears at the Lions booth, along with Robin and Mary Hickok, who are food booth veterans.

A sign on the Lions booth in 2021 explained that lion ears resemble elephant ears.

“Only better in every way,” the sign said.

The Lions support vision and hearing programs, and those programs cost money, Robin Hickok said. The only way to pay for them is through fundraisers, and the food booth is one of the biggest for the Moses Lake Lions.

“And then you get to eat the food,” Rasmussen said. “Let’s not leave that out - I get all the elephant ears I can eat.”

“Lion ears,” Mary Hickok said.

McKiernan said it’s been a little harder to get volunteers over the years, and the fair staff has had to hire people to do some of the things volunteers used to do. The office staffs that keep track of the entries are paid, and Sandman and Garneau praised them and the fair staff for their work.

“It really helps to work with such a good group of people,” Sandman said. “It is a pleasure to come and help when you’ve got such a good crew.”

The Moses Lake Lioness booth, home of the legendary Spaceburger, also is taking a slightly different approach to staffing. Lioness member Frogg McMains said the club always has managed to find enough people to staff the booth.

“It’s getting harder than it used to be,” McMains said.

So this year club members hired participants in some youth organizations, and the money goes to the organization’s activities, she said.

Carol Garneau said she and her husband plan to keep volunteering because it’s enjoyable.

“We kind of get to know the kids,” she said. “It’s almost a yearly reunion for a lot of us old-timers.”

Cheryl Schweizer may be reached at cschweizer@columbiabasinherald.com.