Grange Displays

Day 331: Another feature of the Fair which I always try to see before the crowds arrive is the vegetable displays put on by the various granges in the area. These are housed in the Floral Building, and this year, they had improved the lighting substantially. A lot of work goes into the arrangement and maintenance of the produce during the Fair's three-week run.

To me, agriculture is the soul of any county or state fair. Unfortunately, the Puyallup Fair seems to be shoving it farther and farther into the wings each year, especially since becoming the Washington State Fair. The trend is toward commercialism, and I'm not talking about $5 cones of cotton candy and $4.75 caramel apples. Even the unique vendors (sellers of lavender products and orchard honies) are being pushed out by soulless mega-corporations like Verizon. What few merchants aren't hawking hot tubs and mattresses are pushing the same cheaply made products from three or four booths in different locations around the venue. Once around the Fair was enough for me. I'll visit the critters again, but as far as I'm concerned, they might as well close the doors on the Multiplex.

Let's Go To The Fair!

Day 336: It's that time of year again, and today was my first shift at the 2015 Puya...Washington State Fair. It will always be the "Puyallup Fair" to me and to many local residents, although it is quite different from the agricultural festival it was when I first began attending. It's become much more commercial, a place where attendees shop for vacuum cleaners, car squeegees, fireplace inserts, hot tubs, silverware polish, plastic trinkets, and with every advancing step, noses are assaulted with odors of foods which would not be considered fit for human consumption outside the fair venue. The Fair is all about money these days, as I discovered when I paid an additional $8 to walk through the Star Trek exhibit.

A Trekkie of the first water, I expected something special, perhaps a scale mock-up of 1701-D, Klingons lurking in dark corners, phaser blasts I should dodge or something of that nature. What I found instead were lighted panels showing the Star Trek timeline, stock photos and text straight out of the various concordances for the series. There were lighted instrument panels, but without any explanation of the functions, again falling way short of anything found in the concordances, and there was a mock-up of the 1701-D's bridge, but you could not enter it unless you shelled out an additional $15 to have a single photograph of yourself taken in the captain's chair.

There were four or five larger-than-life facial sculpts including Data, a Cardassian and Neelix, all with bulging artificial and unrealistic eyes. There was a Borg in its cubicle and Worf, standing life-sized in a dark bay, again both very bad works in resin or plastic. Largely, the exhibit consisted of costumes in cases, purportedly those worn by the actors, but every one looked dingy and dirty, like something which had been in grandma's attic for the last fifty years. You'd have thought they'd have had them dry-cleaned before putting them on display. I left the building after a mere ten minutes, feeling as if there were Ferengi gloating in the gloom over having bilked me for the price of admission. Trust me, there's more to see in any Trek convention's dealer room than you'll see here.

Although I was disappointed in the Star Trek building and the overall commercial nature of the modern-day fair, what I really enjoy most are the animals, grange displays and the Pavilion where all types of needlework from quilts to tatting are well-lit and nicely shown. Those things are to me what define a county or state fair. Give me pumpkins and sunflowers and 4-H sheep, and I'm a happy camper, even if I do have to walk through a concourse thick with a fog of deep-fried Oreo grease to reach them.

Winds Of Change

Day 346: Of the eleven Grange displays at the Puyallup (Washington State) Fair, I was most captivated by this sixth and eighth place winner. I believe its clever theme went right over the tops of the judges' pointy little heads. The old and the new are depicted here, immediately obvious in the contrast between a vintage windmill and the wind turbines, but if you look closely, you'll see how the theme is carried throughout the arrangement. Notice the pressure canners at the top left and right. Look at the jars beside them. Even more subtle are the two pitchforks, one spanking new and one well-used. The produce is fresh and artfully laid out with the exception of the untidy onions, and the premise (innovation in agriculture) is certainly more relevant than the Seahawks' "twelfth man" subject a few panels away. Now I know most people only give a cursory glance to these displays, but the creators deserve more than that, not just for making an attractive showcase, but for all the hard work it took to grow those perfect fruits and veggies.

Fair Fare

Day 345: Some folks go to the Fair for the big-name entertainment shows. Others go for the food. Some go to ride the rides and play for prizes on the midway. Some (although I cannot comprehend the logic) go to throw away their money buying things no human being could ever need in any of the increasingly larger commercial venues. Some want to see local talent on display in the art and photography pavilions. Others enjoy watching demonstrations of wool-spinning and sheep-shearing. For me, two things make a Fair: animals and vegetables. Without pigs and giant pumpkins, without Grange displays and exotic breeds of chickens, there is no Fair.

This morning found me making a beeline for the Grange building with the tripod tucked under my arm. Last year, the Grangers found themselves in new quarters, and it was a change for the better as far as lighting was concerned. However, as luck would have it, some time after the Fair closed, the new Grange building burnt to the ground. The new "building" is a giant tent, and the lighting is almost as poor as it was in the Showplex Building where vegetables took a back seat to vacuum cleaners and knives guaranteed to stay sharp forever. The floral show is housed in the same tent, as are the prize-winning pumpkins. Sadly in the shadows these days, dazzling dahlias and gorgeous gourds don't deserve the level of illumination reserved for aromatherapy diffusers and magnetic jewelry. After all, they're just to look at, not to sell and buy.