Wiley City, Washington

 

 

Welcome to the year 2009, 59th annual edition of West Valley 4-H and FFA Fair and Fat Stock Sale, Inc.  From it's humble beginnings behind the Grange in Ahtanum to it's Golden Anniversary, the Fair Board and it's friends hope that you enjoy this very special fair and the many special activities that we have planned for you.  We would also like to thank all of the volunteers and the community for all of their help over the years.

The PURPOSE of the West Valley Fair is for the community to provide a learning experience for the youth of our area in the fields of Home Economics, Still Life, and Agriculture, with the hope of promoting it in the future.

The AIM of the West Valley Fair is that by giving the exhibitors a chance to perform, it will teach them self-respect, responsibility, pride, and honor. The West Valley Fair organization feels that these traits are necessary to assist the youth of our area to grow into responsible young adults. The net result will be young adults that we can be proud to say are from our communities.

We wish all exhibitors the best of luck and hope they enjoy the West Valley Fair.

 

 

 The History of Our Fair

In the early summer of 1951, several concerned parents discussed the fact that their 4-H kids were not prepared to show at the Grandview and Central Washington State fairs.   The parents felt that a “practice fair” was what the kids needed to help them gain confidence in themselves in addition to preparing them for the upcoming fairs.

 

Known at the time as the Ahtanum Fair, the fair was held in Ahtanum behind the Ahtanum Grange.   Complete with cardboard ribbons, the local 4-H kids competed and gained the experience to help them with future fairs.   Events such as the parade and watermelon-eating contest began at this first fair.  Since it was such a success, the fair was planned again the following year, and the years to follow.

 

The fair continued to grow, with entries doubling each year over the previous year.  What started as a one-day event with local Ahtanum 4-H’ers, grew to 2 days in 1958.   The fair had changed its name to “West Valley Fair” and included: a horse show, open home economic exhibits, and added a livestock auction.   FFA members were now exhibiting at the fair and kids from the entire West Valley area were allowed to exhibit.   The fair at this time was truly a “community fair” with live entertainment and PTA type games for the kids.

 

In 1959 a Royalty Contest was added.   At that time the winner was chosen by the number of raffle tickets sold.  The contestant who sold the most won and was crowned Queen with the runner-ups being crowned princess.   There was no age limit placed on those who could run until 1960.   In 1966 it was decided to judge the contestants rather than base it on the sale of raffle tickets.

 

And still the fair continued to grow.   The two-day fair expanded to 3 days in 1961, 4 days in 1962, and to 5 days in 1964.   Largely due to the fact that the horse show required 2 days to complete with well over 100 exhibitors and nearly 200 horses.   A new barn was built in 1965 to hold all the livestock entries.   It was moved in 1969 to its current location and is now known as the “steer barn.”

 

During the expansion in the 1960’s, events such as the dog show and the tractor-driving contest were added.   The fair also hosted the county Public Speaking Contest.   In 1968 the fair was the largest held, with approximately 500 4-H and FFA members attending.  The horse show was held several weeks earlier simply because there was not enough volunteers to do all the work.

 

In 1969 the entire West Valley Fair was moved to the Tampico Saddle Club grounds in Wiley City, its present location.   The fair was a “no holds barred” event.   Anyone who wanted to enter was allowed to do so.   An estimated 6000 people attended the fair during the 4-day event.   There were approximately 2,000 visitors on Saturday alone.   Over 400 attended the Saturday breakfast.

 

The fair grew throughout the 1970’s and early 1980’s.   However, in mid-1980 the fair fell into a decline.   In 1988 only 29 animals went through the auction and only two girls ran for Royalty.   Several reasons have been given for this decline, such as a bad economy and a lack of volunteers.   The horse and dog show were moved to the last weekend in July.   For several years the horse show was canceled due to the lack of volunteers.   The fair came to the brink of being cancelled completely.

 

By the early 1990’s a resurgence of new volunteers saved the fair.   Livestock entries rebounded from a low of 29 in 1988 to the hundreds by mid-1990.   Although the livestock numbers have rebounded to the largest numbers ever seen in the history of the fair, much is yet to be done to bring back the numbers in the Home Economics and entertainment areas for the public enjoyment.

 

Due to our busy life styles, many do not have the time available to volunteer in everything our kids are involved in.   But the West Valley Fair should top all of our lists as a priority.   For over 50 years the fair has strived to meet the needs of our kids and our community and we should rally behind it to make it the fair it once was, the focal point of the community every first week in August.

 

We at the West Valley Fair express our thanks to all of those who spend countless hours preparing the West Valley Fairgrounds in the weeks leading up to the fair.  For those who take to time to come and support our areas youth.   We look forward to seeing you in the years to come as we gather at the West Valley Fair. (Researched and written by Bobbie Benton Hull)

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Email comments about this web site to the Web Master .  Updated August 15, 2009.