Washington Fair officials pleased with attendance
WASHINGTON – Washington County Fair Board President Lee Robinson says more than just good weather has increased attendance at the fair this year. He also attributes the rise to more than $1 million in improvements made to the fairgrounds.
The board demolished two exhibition halls near the entrance to the grounds and constructed two new buildings connected by an arched canopy over the picnic and food vendor area.
“We’ve had a lot of good comments on the building, no negative comments at all. The food vendors are doing really well. The crowds have been up, and we’re pleased with that,” Robinson said.
The new, large exhibit halls show off the displays better than the old buildings did, Robinson said: “I think the buildings were so dark and dreary before. Now they’re nicely lit up and have tile floors.”
The buildings house art and craft entries as well as local business vendors. The center section features neatly labeled food booths with picnic tables in the common area.
The new enclosed food court offers shelter from both the intense sun and brief but heavy rain showers that have hit the fair throughout the week. Robinson said improvements have also been made to the system used for parking the cars. The lot is now marked with signs designating the row number and section, making it easier to find vehicles at the end of the day. Hay wagons take visitors from their parking spaces to the area near the main gate, as well.
“So many people get here at 2 (p.m.) and leave at 10 (p.m.) and they have no idea where they’re parked, so we try to mark it like a mall parking lot,” Robinson said.
About 7,000 people a day have attended the fair, with as many as 10,000 on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday, the three biggest days of the fair. The fair offers both daily and weekly admissions, with about 3,100 weekly passes sold this year.
Fair participants hold most of the passes.
Two people who can be found at the fair all day every day are the fair queen and the fair princess. This year’s fair queen is Laramey Dille of Prosperity, while Lindsey Green of Washington is fair princess.
Dille has shown pigs and lambs and exhibited her sewing in 4-H over the years.
“We live on a farm, so the next step was to be involved in 4-H,” Dille said.
The 18-year-old will be a freshman at Duquesne University, where she will study forensic science. She attributes her interest in the field to reading and watching television, particularly Nancy Drew novels and the show “CSI-Crime Scene Investigator.”
Green, 16, and a Trinity High School junior this year, has been involved in 4-H for the past seven years, though she has never shown an animal.
“My projects were mainly sewing and cake decorating. I’ve never had any animals, except a cat, and that really doesn’t count for anything,” Green said.
As fair princess, Green has gotten a much closer look at farm animals than ever before, since the queen and the princess hand out the ribbons at each event.
Dille offered a bit of advice during the pig judging: “Just put your leg out like this and they usually go away,” Dille advised as one of the entrants got away from its owner and headed for the girls.