Are you ready for the biggest little week of the summer? I’m talking about the Southwest Washington Fair, which kicks off Tuesday at the fairgrounds in north Chehalis.
I’m looking forward to it, and not just because my wonderful niece Clara is finishing her year as the fair’s living logo, Little Miss Friendly. (Although I must say it was really fun to see her shine in that role.)
There is a lot to love about the fair. It is a tradition to attend and it is always a blast to see the people on the Midway and chat. If you are new to the area or have never been for some reason, you should visit the fair at least once. You will not regret it.
The heart of the fair is probably the children and their animals. It is a real joy to wander through the different stables and see the young people and their furry/feathered friends. Time seems to have a different meaning in the stables. You can feel it as you walk through. There is always something to do, be it feeding the animals, cleaning up after them, bathing them or showing them in one of the arenas.
The animal sale is always an inspiring experience because you see the culmination of months of work and the financial payoff when businesses and community members open their wallets to purchase the animals and support the young farmers.
The Centralia-Chehalis Chamber of Commerce became aware of these children when they stopped by the Chamber office asking for assistance in selling their fair animals.
As of press time, 29 participants had been welcomed to the Junior Livestock Auction. The youngest participant is a young man, Brock Boonewho raises pigs. He will use the proceeds from the auction to finance his studies at Centralia College, where he is a Running Start student in the diesel engineering program.
Others who have visited the Chamber of Commerce office have sold turkeys, lambs, goats, heifers, steers and more. Their hard work and rural grit are part of what makes Lewis County so special. I love that the fair preserves and promotes that spirit.
The Junior Livestock Sale will take place on Friday, August 16th at 6pm. For more information visit southwestwashingtonfair.org/events/jr-livestock-sale/
I’ll be at the opening ceremony of the show on the Saloon Stage at 11am on Tuesday. Stop by and say hello while you’re there.
See you at the fair!
Founder’s Day
Congratulations to the good people of Centralia and especially to the energetic people of the Centralia Downtown Association for hosting their second annual Founder’s Day celebration. It’s happening this Saturday, August 10th, in George Washington Park next to the library. They start at 9am with a 5k run through founder George Washington’s old estate (that’s most of the land from downtown Centralia to the Mellen Street exit). There’s a movie at the Juice Box all day, a memorial at the founder’s grave at Washington Lawn Cemetery at 2pm, and an event in the park at 3pm.
There will be giant bubbles for the kids, food vendors, lawn games, a pop-up museum in the library and then music in the park at 6 p.m. with Yelm band Grooveyard.
Speaking of museum pieces, the George & Mary Jane Washington Museum has just received a remarkable donation: historical deeds with the signatures of the city founders George and Mary Jane themselves.
These will be a new highlight of the museum, as there are actually very few items that George and Mary Jane actually touched or owned that are known to still exist. Expanding that short list is a big deal.
The CDA, where the museum is located, is working with archivists to properly preserve and display these artifacts. I look forward to seeing this living history in person soon.
Dad joke of the week (not weak)
The other day at Thorbecke’s I saw an employee vacuuming around the weight lifting equipment. That made sense. With so many people getting ripped and torn, there must be a lot of paper scraps to wipe away. I didn’t see if they had to polish the equipment as well. If so, I wonder if they use Brawny paper towels.
•••
Brian Mittge is excited to see some Bearcats this weekend at his 30th(!?) high school reunion. You can reach him at [email protected] or by searching the hashtag #OnChehalis.
