Watson leads state fair association

The current president of the Washington State Fair Association (WSFA) has started making the rounds to state fairs after a tough year battling to maintain funding for the Fair Fund during the legislative session.

Through the tireless efforts of state fair association members as well as numerous others across the state, the final legislative budget included $1,750,000 per year for 2012 and 2013 for the Fair Fund, which is a $250,000 decrease per year.

As the legislative session progressed, current WSFA President Val Watson realized the association’s legislative committee and board needed more help to emphasize the need for the Fair Fund.

She formed a Fair Funding Task Force of people involved with fairs across the state to address legislative issues because the original proposals regarding the Fair Fund ranged from a 75 percent cut to total elimination.

Although the stress level was extremely high during the tumultuous legislative session, Watson considers the final funding level a plus compared to other programs that were on the chopping block.

In addition, the Capital budget included $1,000,000 for health and safety grants for county fairs through an application process.

Watson and her husband, LeRoy, live in the Lind area and have been involved in 4-H and area fairs for several years.

They met while serving on the Adams County Fair Board.

Val’s dedication to fairs started with superintendent school in Yakima.

“I’m always looking to learn more about how fairs run,” she said. “I continue to learn. I went through fairground management classes from the International Association of Fairs and Expositions, graduating in December 2010.”

Since that first trip to school, Val has attended the state fair convention every year. She’s served on the state fair board for eight years, first as a director and ascending to president this year.

“To me, it’s no different than being a director except I run the meetings and I answer the questions.”

At the end of the convention Oct. 20-22 in Yakima, Val will hand over the gavel to the next president and continue serving for another year as past president.

As president, Val has handled organization of the state convention, from securing keynote speakers to working on the poster contest.

This year’s convention will open with Shawna Schuh and Randy Dorn will provide the motivational speech on the final day.

Val is only one of a handful of area residents who have served on the state fair board in the top leadership position, including Yvonne Knuth and Fred Blauert.

As the fair season continues, Val will make her way to Castle Rock, Cowlitz County Fair, the 100th fair in Waterville, the Wheat Land Communities’ Fair, the Adams County Fair and numerous others – traveling every weekend in August to a fair.

Each year, the president chooses what fairs to visit. Part of Val’s goal this year is to take photographs at every fair for a PowerPoint presentation at the state convention so attendees can see fairs from across the fair.

“It’s a lot of fun,” she said. “I enjoy it. It’s totally under my skin. I love fairs.”