Evergreen State Fair milks its agricultural heritage

Published 9:00 pm Monday, August 23, 2004

MONROE – Amid the hustle and bustle of crews preparing for the start of the Evergreen State Fair on Thursday, the garbage cans stood ready Monday to welcome thousands and thousands of people.

Decorated in black and white, the cans kind of looked like cows.

“That’s part of the theme,” Elizabeth Grant, the fair’s marketing director, said as she drove around the 180-acre fairground.

With “The Land of Milk and Honey” as its slogan, Snohomish County’s biggest fair is scheduled to start Thursday and continue through Sept. 6.

Anja Publicover, the fair’s superintendent coordinator, suggested the slogan. Publicover, who is originally from Holland, has lived since 1969 in the United States, which she calls the land of milk and honey because of abundant opportunities.

“Everything is possible here,” Publicover said. “Isn’t it an American dream?”

“We translated that over to the fairground. This is a great place,” Grant said.

This year marks the 96th anniversary of the fair, Grant said. Last year, it drew about 839,000 people.

But Mark Campbell, the fair manager, said he doesn’t want to count chickens before they hatch.

“I won’t make predictions. We are subject to so many things (such as weather),” Campbell said about this year’s turnout.

The fair has evolved over the last few years without losing its traditional focus on agriculture, Campbell said. This year, it will feature many hands-on programs designed for youths, such as milking cows and baking potatoes.

“If they haven’t seen the fair for the last few years, I really think they’ll find this as a whole new experience,” he said.

Crews were busily working Monday. Students were decorating pens for animals they will show. Vendors were painting booths.

One of the fair’s new features is a picnic area, where people can relax while listening to waterfalls at a garden installed for the fair, Grant said.

“I’m excited to see how much we can do in such a short period,” said Brion Henault, who has been working on the garden since Thursday.

Henault, who owns a landscaping company in Everett, said the $20,000 garden will use 20 tons of granite boulders, six yards of river rocks, 10 yards of mulch, 30 yards of topsoil and various plants and flowers.

“It’s a little bit of nature with so much humanity around here, Henault said.

Reporter Yoshiaki Nohara: 425-339-3029 or ynohara@heraldnet.com.