Clark County Fair Manager John Morrison said Friday that a resolution has been reached in the standoff with 4-H equestrian groups and the youth organization will participate in the 2011 fair.
The controversy started last fall after Morrison rejected a 4-H equestrian superintendent — an adult selected by 4-H horse clubs to be in charge at the fair — because of her past behavior.
That prompted 4-H state and local leaders to say Morrison didn’t have that authority and, if he didn’t back down, the youth organization would not participate.
Morrison, in turn, said he and the members of the Clark County Fair Board didn’t want to lose the 4-H equine program, but if the youth boycotted, he had other horse groups waiting to take their spots.
Morrison issued a brief statement Friday that said he reached an agreement with Pat BoyEs, director of youth development at the WSU Puyallup Research & Extension Center, and Karen Poulin, a faculty member with Washington State University Clark County Extension.
“A new management structure and leadership personnel have been jointly developed that will ensure the success of this very important exhibit,” Morrison wrote. “We are now able to move forward with Fair preparations that include the youth and their equine projects.”
Neither Morrison nor Poulin returned calls seeking additional comment. How the adult involved in the initial controversy is affected by the agreement was not disclosed.
The 2011 Clark County Fair will run Aug. 5-14.
A key sticking point between fair management and the 4-H equine groups? Tents.
Last month, Morrison said that tents and canopies set up as rest areas for fair participants had grown out of control in the past few years. Some were clustered near entrances to barns and buildings.
He directed superintendents to make sure the resting areas were not in the public’s way.
He said every superintendent followed his directions, except the 4-H horse superintendent. He said the 4-H horse superintendent overreacted by taking down all the tents and canopies near the stall barn and the portable stalls, which upset the horse kids and led a large group of them to deliver a petition to Morrison’s office.
The horse kids were also upset that members of the Clark County Fair Court received six stalls in a prime location. There are three members of the fair court, so each one received a stall for her horse and another for costumes and gear. That decision had been made months before the 2010 fair by the 24-member fair board upon a recommendation by a fair court committee.
