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4-H horse program might skip Clark County Fair

Officials angry horse superintendent was fired by fair manager

By Stephanie Rice
Published: December 17, 2010, 12:00am

RIDGEFIELD — The 2011 Clark County Fair will run Aug. 5-14, but will 4-H horses and their juvenile handlers show up?

Or will they boycott the fair in protest of Fair Manager John Morrison’s decision to dismiss the adult superintendent in charge of the horse program?

A Jan. 1 deadline has been set for fair management and the 4-H horse program to resolve whether the program will participate.

The Washington State University Clark County Extension 4-H Youth Development Program uses the Clark County Fair as a qualifying event for the state fair in Puyallup.

Scott Horenstein, president of the Clark County Fair Board, said Thursday he hopes an agreement is reached. If it isn’t, though, he said that doesn’t mean the public will miss out on seeing horses. Typically 4-H students show their horses for five days at the fair.

There are other horse groups that would love to take their place, Horenstein said.

Horenstein said he’s not concerned that other 4-H groups would join the horse kids in solidarity.

The dispute has angered parents, according to e-mail messages received by The Columbian.

According to a Nov. 29 letter to 4-H leaders from Karen Poulin, a Clark County Extension faculty member, a sticking point was that Morrison dismissed a 4-H horse superintendent this year.

Poulin wrote that Pat BoyEs, the state 4-H program director based in Puyallup, told Morrison he overstepped his bounds.

“WSUE (Washington State University Extension) has full responsibility for 4-H volunteers and the roles and responsibilities that they undertake on behalf of WSUE,” Poulin wrote. “Consequently, the dismissal and appointment of 4-H Superintendents is beyond the Clark County Fair Board and Management’s scope of authority.”

Unless an agreement is reached by Jan. 1, the equine program will not participate in the fair, she wrote.

“While this would represent a significant loss to both the youth who participate in the 4-H equine program and the fair-going public, WSUE’s authority in matters involving 4-H volunteers is critical to maintaining program integrity,” Poulin wrote.

She wrote that equine project members would be able to participate in a different state-qualifying event.

Horenstein said he did not want to comment on the details of the “petty” disagreements, but said the fair board backed Morrison’s decision to dismiss the horse superintendent, a Woodland resident who could not be reached Thursday for comment. Morrison did not return a call.

Horenstein said that while it doesn’t happen often, people do get removed from the fair, including food vendors, carnival operators or members of the public. That can extend to 4-H volunteers, he said.

“It’s our fair,” he said.

Stephanie Rice: 360-735-4508 or stephanie.rice@columbian.com.

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