The Wasco County Board of Commissioners appointed two community members to the Wasco County Fair Board, drawing from a pool of four applicants.
Commissioner Steve Kramer, who works with the fair board, told the board he had received a lot of call and correspondence from community in regards to the fair board openings. “We have a lot of work to do, and a golden opportunity to hit the reset button and make the Wasco County Fair bigger and better,” Kramer said. He noted all aspects of the fair are open to improvement. 4-H, the auction, infrastructure, buildings, you name it. We’ve got a lot of work to do and this is just the first step of many,” Kramer said.
Of the four applicants, “Two stand out in the citizen’s eyes, and I would move to appoint Vicky Ashley and Bryan Laroque to the fair board,” Kramer said.
The board of commissioners agreed, and Ashley and Rock were appointed with unanimous support.
Ashley is a Maupin resident who has lived in Wasco County for more than 40 years, according to her application to the fair board. She “would like to see the Wasco County Fair grow and become a totally family destination,” according to her application. In addition to adding more commercial vendors, Ashley said she would like to see a better marketing plan, and possibly bring in entertainment on Thursday evening, review the carnival, get more sponsorship for individual (fair entry) categories and develop a ‘food court,’” she wrote.
Laroque is owner of Route 30 Bottles and Brews in downtown The Dalles. He was raised in The Dalles, and opened Route 30 in 2014. He said he loves to give back to The Dalles, and noted his volunteer experience has been too many to list. He said he has built a stage in his business, and scheduled over 300 shows in 2019, prior to the pandemic-related closures of 2020 and 2021.
Kramer and Commissioner Scott Hege both noted their appreciation of the interest shown by all four applicants. “We are always lacking volunteers,” noted Kramer, and their is a lot to do to build a better county fair. “There is always room for someone to do something.”
Commissioner Kathy Schwartz noted the fair board “is a real working board,” and members past and present have worked really hard to make the fair happen. “I really appreciate that,” she said.
Hege agreed, and noted the fair was a great event at a wonderful facility. “The fair is awesome. Sometimes its disappointing to go down there, and not have more folks there participating. Hopefully we can build that up, it’s a wonder facility. We have a lot of opportunity, and a lot of work to do.”
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