Firstly the fair is suppose be a self-supporting event Wrong, the county gives the fair board approximately $65,000.00 extra each year from your tax dollars. Tony Hyde made the comment several years ago in a public meeting, that the county would no longer be giving monies to keep this separate organization a float. Well Commissioner Hyde continues to vote to bail out the fair. Along with the other two commissioners voting to do so because they are afraid of public criticism. I guess that is understandable.
Secondly, I attended a county commissioners meeting July 18, 2007 where a very polite and well spoken young lady, asked the commissioners why she was denied the ability to volunteer at the fair this year, because she had really wanted to. And that she had in the past 3-4 years. When asked what she had done in the past she replied anything that that they had wanted her to do. I find it very disturbing that an organization as the fair, which continues to use the pretense that they care about our youth like the 4 H kids, would deny this young lady the opportunity to volunteer at the fair.
It is sad that more young people do not have the desire to volunteer at a community event, when this young lady was denied the opportunity to volunteer at the fair, the fair director done a great disservice to the community.
I ask why? this young person was denied, when the fair actually hired more people to work at the fair grounds, spending money that the fair really does not have. With nothing in this community for young people to do, you would think that those responsible would welcome a young person willing to work. Whether they are 4 H or not!
I question the fair boards denial to host the Toy and Joy Auction this year, renting out the pavilion to some other group. The Toy and Joy have been using the pavilion for 8 years, and should be allowed to use the building, as they have in the past. I also think that the Toy and Joy should be given the building for no charge since it is a community group and is strictly non-profit, with all monies and items returning back to those in the community in need. Remember, you the taxpayer are providing extra monies each year to the fair grounds.
For those of you that have attended the fair for the last several decades might have noticed that there is no St. Helens FFA, although Rainier has a small group. St. Helens FFA went along the way side about 25 years ago. Have you noticed that there is scarcely no animals? Well check out where there use to be farm land, now it is housing developments, you can thank city and county planning for that, and you can thank yourselves for allowing huge housing tracks to be developed, and causing the demise of our valuable farm lands.
Along with the demise of farmland goes the local granges; granges use to be the hub of each small berg, a close community, a time that is almost completely gone, a time now where people do not even know who their next door neighbor is.
Have you noticed that the attendance at the fair is almost nil, there is no decent entertainment or food vendors, the only decent draw is the rodeo on Friday and Saturday nights, in short there is nothing at the fair to DRAW people in, I suggest that the fair board wakes up fast, welcome people with new ideas instead of ignoring volunteers or folks with fresh ideas and fresh energy. Instead of running off those people who are trying to make the fair grounds a go, people who have taken their own hard earned money to help out the fair grounds, through maintaining of the buildings for example.
In fact, ever since the Old Columbia County Fairgrounds at (Deer Island (was sold underhand in the 60's, our fair started down the slippery sloop of destruction.
In the early to mid ninety's' I personally went to the County Commissioners, and the Port of St. Helens, and tried to get them to buy back, the old fairgrounds, I met with ignorance and was rebuffed. The price of the land was, 1 million dollars for 496 acres the same amount that the taxpayers of the county paid for the land through a 1-year bond in 1928-29. If we still had that property, Columbia County could have a good fair, and have room to hold huge events all year long, a fair ground that could pay for its self and a place where the county could actually make money. A place where great community groups such as the Toy and Joy, could make up their food baskets and hold their auction with out difficulty.