PORT TOWNSEND — Jefferson County Fair officials fear the loss of $33,000 from the state Department of Agriculture — a loss anticipated because of state cutbacks in recent years.
“If we do lose the income, the fair’s going to go on,” said Bill McIntire, fair board president.
“We are just going to have to do different things.
“We don’t want to raise the fares” to the fair, he added, saying it would drive people away from the summer event that draws more than 13,000 paying fair-goers.
Bill McIntire and his wife, Sue McIntire — both long connected with the fair — recently visited 24th District state lawmakers in Olympia — who represent the North Olympic Peninsula — to plead for continued funding.
They left expressing doubts about whether the state Department of Agriculture funding they have relied on will be there this year.
“The outcome looked pretty gloomy,” Sue McIntire said.
They said they should know the good or bad news by Feb. 17.
State cutbacks could affect everything from energy-saving light bulbs to cutting costs for fair entertainment at the Jefferson County Fair.
This year’s fair, celebrating its 75th year, will be Aug. 10-12.
The fairground’s board of volunteers budgets about $200,000 a year to run the fair and maintain the grounds at 4907 Landes St. in Port Townsend.
The volunteers are in the process of painting the Erickson Building, which includes a dance hall, a kitchen and exhibit area and the administrative offices at the fairgrounds.
“That will make it more marketable,” said Sue McIntire, who has long served with her husband on the fair board.
The fair is not connected to the Jefferson County government, she stressed.
It is a nonprofit organization that depends on nearly 16,000 in annual volunteer hours from 428 volunteers, she said.
The state Legislature, grappling with a nearly $2 billion budget shortfall, has placed state subsidies to fairs on the potential chopping block.
The state allocates about $2 million a year to the state Department of Agriculture, which then divvies it out to about 70 fairs like Jefferson’s around the state.
Gov. Chris Gregoire proposes suspending the fair fund for the current fiscal year, with cuts of $500,000 planned for each of the next two years.
That could eliminate other state Agriculture grants as well, the McIntires said.
Jefferson County Fair Association received two grants totaling $9,000 from the state Agriculture special assistance grant fund.
One grant for $3,000 will be used to put new siding on the south ends of the Cow and Horse Barns at the Jefferson fairgrounds.
The second grant is going toward a $6,000 reroofing of the campground’s rest room in time for camping season’s opening in March.
The funds will be used to purchase the materials, with all labor provided by volunteers, he said.
Over the past two months, work has been done to upgrade the inside of the Erickson Building.
While the fair cut costs by hiring local entertainment instead of a name act in the past, they see a trade-off in a loss of attendance with lesser-known acts performing.
The McIntires said they hope the fair board can come up with creative ideas for paying out premiums to encourage more youths to bring livestock to the fair.
“We don’t want to cut out premiums for kids and animals,” Sue McIntire said.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
