It’s been another sweltering year out at the Clark County Fair. Luckily for fairgoers, Clark Public Utilities is there to help them beat the heat, serving up ice-cold cups of water. It’s something they’ve been doing for more than 25 years, giving away tens of thousands of cups every fair.
“I’ve been involved with the fair for 27 years … and I don’t know of a time when they were not involved with this fair,” said outgoing Fair Manager John Morrison.
Morrison said that Clark Public Utilities typically gives away 47,500 cups of water over the course of the ten-day fair. Fairgoers can collect the water — as much of it as they would like — from Clark Public Utilities’ booth in the fair’s Exhibition Hall.
“It’s such a simple thing, and yet people really appreciate it,” said Stephanie Fauser, who has been working with the utility for a year and half. Fauser was one of four employees working the first four-hour shift at the booth.
If You Go
• What: Clark County Fair.
• Hours Friday: 10 a.m. to 11 p.m.
• Where: 17402 N.E. Delfel Road, Ridgefield.
• Admission: Adults, $11.25; seniors 62 and older, $9.25; kids 7-12, $8.25; kids 6 and younger, free.
• Parking, transportation: Parking, $6 per vehicle (cash only); C-Tran shuttle, free from six main transfer stations; $1 discount on full gate admission with bus transfer ticket. Schedules at www.c-tran.com/fair
• Carnival: Opens at noon.
• ERS Free Grandstand: Tuff Trucks, 2 and 7 p.m.
• Pets: Not permitted, except for service animals or those on exhibit or in competition.
• More information: www.clarkcofair.com or 360-397-6180
As of noon on Thursday, the Clark Public Utilities team had given away 40,700 cups, and was on track to raise that number by at least a few hundred more by the end of the day.
“This week, that’s been particularly valuable, given the heat that we’ve had,” Morrison said. “It’s been consistently hot — hotter than what the average fairgoer normally likes to come out in.”
The temperature on Thursday reached the low 90s, as it had the day before, though it was expected to drop into the 80s for the final three days of the fair. Saturday’s forecast calls for rain.
Morrison detailed the other ways in which Clark Public Utilities had helped the fair over the years. A few years ago, the utility had stepped in to help reroute some of their lines underground when it became no longer acceptable for the fair to place vendor booths under aboveground utility lines.
Or, just walking around the fair, it’s easy to find white canopies that bear Clark Public Utilities’ name.
“I use those for shade purposes or at entrances,” Morrison said. “That helps me, every year, when I use those tents to not have the expense of renting those.”
Providing water isn’t the only way that Clark Public Utilities has helped the fair, but it’s what the most people notice — and appreciate, especially in the dog days of summer.
“It’s a nice relief from summer,” said Ray Wilson, 81, who was enjoying the fair’s festivities with his wife.
Anne Stewart, 50, agreed, adding that it was convenient to not have to pay for bottled water when Clark Public Utilities was willing to refill her bottle.
“I think it’s an asset to the experience at the fair, especially when the heat conditions are what they are,” she said.”
