Smiley & Grumpy At Puyallup
Fair
(Fair
celebrates 100 Years!) (9-22-00)
Good morning Washington! Pick
up your hooded jackets, umbrella's, Northwest hiking shoes and sunglasses as we
follow along with Smiley and Grumpy as they invite you, Cody (age 8) and Sidney
(age 6) out for a festival of fun. I
will guide you through some of the Fair's history and let Smiley and Grumpy take
you right into the Puyallup Fairgrounds.
First let's follow the rainbow into the valley of Puyallup.
With majestic Mt. Rainier in the background and a rainbow gateway leading
us right to the fair. With the
sounds of trains running right through downtown Puyallup and the Puyallup River
nearby, it's easy to see why we are headed in that direction.
As we sit across the fair in the parking lot, let me draw your attention
to how it all began… A sixty-six year old Buckley farmer, "Lewis Alden
Chamberlain" also known as "Dad," believed that the fertile
Puyallup Valley was perfect for a fair. It
was easy to get to from booming cities like Tacoma and Seattle.
The founder of Puyallup was "James P. Stewart," he named it
"Franklin" and "Ezra Meeker" changed it to
"Puyallup" in 1877. Thursday
October fourth nineteen ninety Carey Stewart sold tickets at the main entrance
for only $1.00. This was for a
three-day family admission. Wow!
And that also included a vote for the next meeting.
The fair attendance grew from 3,000 visitors in three days to nearly
80,000 a day in less than a century! In
the nineteen ninety's over 1 million people a year attended the Western
Washington Fair! This made the Puyallup Fair the sixth largest in the Nation!
One June fourteenth nineteen seventy a fire damaged the fair with over a
million dollars damage. The fair
was quickly restored and people continued to pour through the gates.
Pretty interesting stuff! Right? Now
it's time to "Do The Puyallup" with Smiley and Grumpy.
Cody and Sidney have their tickets ready as we prepare to stroll the
grounds of the sixth largest Fair in the Nation.
The smells of food, animals, flowers and even the fresh morning rain
welcome us as we enter the busy gates of the Fair.
Smiley will lead the way, holding hands with Sidney and Cody while Grumpy
follows slowly behind. Smiley made
sure the two kids knew where to find him if he got lost and with the lost and
found so centrally located, they all agreed to meet there.
Grumpy just mumbled and shook his head not paying attention to anyone.
He walked ever so slowly with his head looking down shuffling his feet
and always complaining.
We smelled the barbecue ribs cooking fresh on the open pits, hot dogs,
famous buffalo burgers, and juicy onion burgers that made our mouths water in
anticipation. Cody wanted blue cotton candy and Sidney waited patiently in
the long line for Fisher Scones and raspberry jam.
Grumpy wandered off for ice cream in the livestock section and grumbled
that he would be right back.
We waited hours for Grumpy and found we were getting a little Grumpy
ourselves. We decided to go and
look for him at the lost and found next to the first aid station and sure enough
there was Grumpy. He had a band-aid on his thumb because apparently instead of
biting into his delicious ice cream, he bit into his not so tasty thumb!
Smiley figured out a way to cheer up the Grumpster and took him over to
the big roller coaster ride. They
hopped on the ride and off they went bending and turning around the tracks.
Smiley laughed with his hair blowing in his face, but Grumpy complained
even more. By now Cody and Sidney
were ready to go on the kiddy rides. They
rode trains, cars, and the carousel for hours while Grumpy sat motionless on the
bench.
How could Grumpy be so grumpy at the Puyallup Fair?
So we decided to play a simple game.
We told Grumpy, "If you think you can, you can!"
"So imagine a smile on your face and in your mind see it
there." "See it as a big
smile and wipe away any old grumpiness, stand up straight, hold your head up and
imagine only happy things."
Okay it's time to head to the animal barns and the prize livestock.
The barns are filled with goats, sheep, horses, cows, pigs and more.
Around the corner is the hobby hall, art center, floral, and
horticultural displays. Cody and
Sidney loved the excitement of the pig races and the fish and wildlife building.
Smiley liked the abundant display of foods, cultural and commercial
exhibits.
4-H Club members and Jr. livestock shows proudly displayed their work and
it was truly a labor of love. Open-air
restaurants lined the walkway and the buzzing of chainsaws caught everyone's
attention as they transformed pieces of wood into life like characters.
People cheered as parachutes dropped out of the sky and into the
grandstand area. Star attractions
played there and smaller stages hosted bands of various types of music and
comedy. There were magic tricks,
kids songs, and lots of entertainment for Cody and Sidney throughout the day.
As the sun began to set, leaving just a few more hours of the fair, our
feet were feeling pretty worn out. There
was so much to do and see that we totally lost track of the time.
Kids were looking for their lost parents and the barn animals were all
looking for a warm place to rest their heads after a long day in the hay.
The rides were all lit up in colorful bright lights and the Police could
be seen making their safety rounds. Off
in the distance we heard a faint voice saying, "I think I can, I think I
can, so I can!" It was Grumpy
and he motioned me over to the big roller coaster.
We got on the roller coaster again but this time something was a little
different.
Grumpy sat up straight, held his head up high and smiled a big smile at
all the fair goers down below. He
let out the loudest laugh that even made Cody and Sidney start laughing too.
Happiness and laughter are contagious and once Grumpy started laughing
everyone else laughed too. Grumpy
could be heard yelling from the very top of the roller coaster ride, "Our
world, our children, our favorite fair!"
"We are one big happy family!"
What a glorious day at the fair! As
we headed out of the gates of the fair and up to the top of South Hill Puyallup,
we could see the fair lights light up the night sky.
When we looked back we heard Grumpy say; "chow baby!"
"See you again next year!"
Grumpy sighed and imagined a great big sign posted at the front of the
Puyallup Fair that read; "Welcome Back Grumpy!"
Copyright
1998 by Author Patti Tricoli
