The Wahkiakum County Eagle - Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891

Saturday we had a group of 10 volunteers painting the horse barn stalls and poster wall. Horse Barn Superintendent Valerie Antijunti bought blue paint for the poster wall that matches the color of the metal on the outside of the barn. The inside of the stalls were painted red, the color made them look very clean and bright. At noon the volunteers took a break from painting and were served a picnic lunch with hamburgers barbecued by Lois Wakefield. The volunteers worked until they ran out of stalls that were ready to paint, a combined total of 44 hours and will be back to finish in May. Thank you to Valerie and Mike Antijunti, Robert Eaton, Jordan Smith, Joni, Makenzie and Makayla Matthews, Lois Wakefield, and Starsha and Shaleesha Rose. The horse barn is about 31 years old and with new paint inside it’s looking really nice!

Jean Beerbower has planned a Fair Board Fundraising Book Sale for April 15 and 16 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The book sale will be at the fairgrounds in the T-building. Do you have some books to donate to the book sale? We encourage our community to donate their favorite reading materials to the Fair so we can have another great Book Sale Fundraising Event. Give Jean a call at 849-0001 or call the Fairgrounds at 795-3480 and leave a message. We will arrange a time to collect your donated books or meet you at the Fairgrounds.

Fair Board member Martha Backman has chosen an Xbox 360 with Kinect and two games for the special raffle drawing prize this year at Easter Bingo. Tickets are only $1 for a chance to win this great prize. We will also have a multiple prize raffle drawing, tickets are only $1 for a chance to win these prizes too. When you win a bingo game you will receive a delicious ham or Foster Farms chicken. The Fair Board would like to thank Foster Farms for their generous donation to our Easter Bingo fund raising event. Don’t forget, be at J.A Wendt on April 22 at 6 p.m. for an evening of family fun playing bingo. You might win an Xbox 360!

Last weekend the fairgrounds was the site of many hours of volunteer activity and not just at the horse barn. Fair Board President Neil Beerbower pressure washed the Grange kitchen and ice cream booth floors, then built a raised platform to set our ice machine on. Jean Beerbower was busy most of the day getting ready for the book sale in the T-building. Have a little time to volunteer? We have lots of projects to do to get ready for the 2011 Fair and we would welcome your help!

It’s time to hire a handyman for the Fairgrounds! There is a job description in the Wahkiakum County Eagle classified ads. If this part-time temporary employment sounds like an interesting way to spend May through August to you, please apply.

Horse gate keys for 2011 can be purchased for $50. With this key you can use our big covered arena year round except for Fair time and scheduled events that will be posted in the arena.

If you need to gain access to the Fairgrounds contact Fair Manager Becky Ledtke at 560-0371 or you can call 1-360-795-3480 and leave a message.

The Entertainment Stage Committee will meet at the Fairgrounds in Skamokawa on April 13th at 6 p.m. Don’t be late! This committee meeting will start an hour before we begin our regular Fair Board meeting at 7 p.m. in the T-building at the Fairgrounds. The public is always welcome to attend.