Grant County Fair opens today for five-day run

MOSES LAKE — Measuring the ingredients for the first batch of elephant ears — no, no, Lion ears — was not an exact science. The proportions of spices added to the mix might’ve been off a little bit.  But Susan Hickok, who was leading a refresher for the volunteers in the Moses Lake Lions Club booth at the Grant County Fairgrounds Monday morning, was philosophical. 

“It’s day one. That’s how it is,” Hickok said. 

The Lions were installing their cash register, vendors were working to set up their booths in the Commercial Building, entries were being dropped off in the Agriculture and Arts and Crafts buildings. The Grant County Fair starts its 2024 run today. 

Fairgrounds manager Jim McKiernan suggested that the volunteers who will be manning the gates and other fair facilities (many of them teenagers) put away their phones while they’re on the grounds. The animal barns have a certain, um, ambiance, McKiernan said; people are out walking the grounds and volunteers might hear a pig protesting as it gets its ear tag. 

“The sights, the sounds, the smells of a fair — it’s kind of unique,” he said.  

The volunteers almost filled the main food court. McKiernan said more people volunteered in 2024 than at any time during his tenure as fair manager.  

Other volunteers were busy hanging quilts for the quilt show, setting up for the livestock weigh-in and opening the food booths operated by local service organizations and youth organizations.  

Most of the equipment sits from August to August, and Ephrata Lions members and supporting volunteers were busy learning the intricacies of the hot dog machine. The club’s legendary ice machine was already pumping out ice. The ice machine is a veteran of the construction of Grand Coulee Dam and was a reliable provider of ice until 2023. The Lions were forced to buy ice, something unprecedented.  

One of the attractions at the Moses Lake Lions booth is the Lion ears which, according to a sign on the booth, are just like elephant ears, only better. They're prepared with the help of volunteer cooks, who assembled Monday for a test run. 

It’s been a year since the booth was last opened, so it took a while to hunt up the recipe and find the right measuring cups.  

“We’re going to need our bowl,” Hickok said, looking around. “And that would be ... where?” 

Actually, it turned up in the cupboard marked for mixer parts. 

Other volunteers were hanging the prize-winning quilts in the Arts and Crafts Building. One of the quilts needed some adjusting and volunteer Kim Garza said it was a sign.

“That’s what happens when you work without supervision,” Garza said.

Sun streamed in the open doors, and while the weather was relatively mild hanging the quilts took some work. A volunteer asked if anybody needed a bottle of water. 

“Do you have a margarita back there?” Garza said. 

The fair runs through Saturday. 

    Volunteers Kathy Kalamakis, left, and Kim Garza, right, prepare a quilt for hanging in the Grant County Fair quilt show.
  

    Perched on a picnic table, Grant County Fairgrounds manager Jim McKiernan addresses volunteers during orientation.