LA GRANDE — County fairs can’t be planned overnight. They take months of work, from coordinating vendor sites to buying advertising to booking entertainment close to a year in advance.

Usually, fair managers are responsible for delegating all of these responsibilities and overseeing planning throughout the whole process. But this year’s Union County Fair manager? Her first day on the job was Monday, July 26, nine days before the start of the fair. Kathy Gover-Shaw was hired in June 2021 and has taken the helm of the community event.

“I did 4-H decades ago and I’ve always wanted to give back,” Gover-Shaw said. “This just came up and some friends on the board told me it would be a really good fit.”

After a year-long hiatus, the Union County Fair is back from Aug. 4-7, with several changes in the schedule and the leadership since the last county fair in 2019.

Learning on the fly

With such little time to learn her new position, Gover-Shaw has relied heavily on the Union County Fair board members. The seven-person team plans the event months ahead of time, working with community partners like FFA, 4-H and the Lion’s Club to coordinate the county fair.

“It’s a huge group of people that work together,” Gover-Shaw said. “It’s a community down here that makes this happen.”

Gover-Shaw took over for former fair manager Margaret Spence, who held the position off and on since 2017. While it may be her first year as fair manager, Gover-Shaw has lived her whole life in La Grande and attended the Union County Fair frequently.

“She’s wonderful to work with,” said Union County Fair Board President Jamie Jo Haddock. “We ran with Margaret for a while and then she handed the torch to Kathy. It’s a fairly new board, so we’re all learning.”

Adjusting to COVID-19

As the board looks to bring the fair back to La Grande for the first time since 2019, certain challenges related to the pandemic have been unavoidable.

“Fairs are important to connect our agricultural community to everybody else who doesn’t get to experience these things,” Haddock said. “So, it’s very important that we bring the fair back.”

The Union County Fair will be without the fan-favorite carnival rides this year, but Bubble Fun will provide inflatable bounce houses, obstacle courses, bungee jumping and bumper balls.

Davis Amusement Cascadia Inc. typically supplied the carnival rides, but the company went out of business in January 2020 after 80 years. While COVID-19 has had similar effects on amusement companies across the country, Union County Fair board members hope to bring back the rides next year.

“We want to bring the carnival back,” Haddock said. “Bubble Fun was just very willing to help this year.”

According to Haddock, the board hopes to have both carnival rides and Bubble Fun at next year’s fair. Frank Davis, owner of Bubble Fun, brought the inflatables to the Union County Fair all the way from Paso Robles, California. Scheduling entertainment has been one of the many challenges for Gover-Shaw in coordinating her first county fair, but she said she is rolling with the punches.

“Unfortunately, I got on really late, but thank goodness I have an amazing board,” Gover-Shaw said.

According to the new fair manager, four regional carnival businesses went out of business during the pandemic. In addition to entertainment shortages, the lack of restaurant employees has impacted vendors as well.

“We have a lot of the same vendors back, ones that have been here year after year after year,” she said. “We do have some that were not able to be here this year because they did not have enough employees to cover it.”

Even so, the Union County Fair will have upward of 60 vendors in attendance throughout the week, with most opening from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday. Likewise, the Union County Fair has a full schedule of entertainment during the week including live music acts and a hypnotist.

After last year’s cancelation, the board of directors is looking to bring the fair back in full force.

“We have more animals than we’ve ever had and we have more art and photography than we’ve ever had,” Haddock said. “I feel like it’s coming back really strong this year.”

Building a reputation

Gover-Shaw hopes that her first year as fair manager precedes more successful fairs and continued growth of the event in years to come. According to Haddock, the board aims to improve plumbing at the fairgrounds as well as implementing a sewer system.

As a lifelong La Grande resident, Gover-Shaw has a personal mission to continue enhancing the Union County Fair.

“I’m planning on being the fair manager for a while,” she said. “With this amazing board we have a lot of improvements we want to do out here.”

The Union County Fair officially started on Aug. 4 and extends through Aug. 7. After canceling the event last year, the board members have high hopes for this summer’s event.

“As a community we’re trying to make it bigger and better,” Gover-Shaw said. “Everybody’s just got to get out and support it, so we can make it better every year.”