“Wenatchee, hailed as the Washington city Where East Meets West, rolled out bushels of apples in welcome to attendees at the 1999 Washington State Fairs Association Convention, held Oct. 21 through 23. Fresh from t-h-i-s year’s harvest, too.And while the 16-member contingent returned to Whidbey Island with its full share of apples, the fairgoers also came home full of ideas on how to improve the Island County Fair and ways to turn those ideas into reality.Interspersed among seminars varying from Maintaining 20th Century Traditions in the 21st Century to Moving a Fairgrounds were entertainment showcases featuring acts hopeful of breaking into the fair circuit and returning groups like The Timebenders, voted personal favorites by fan Crystal Ryan, who came home laden with autographs for her collection. True to the red, white and blue theme of the convention, delegates proudly strutted their colors en masse Friday night, complete with Uncle Sam tophats amended by Cosmo, the self-proclaimed Lord of Latex, a popular performer at the Island County Fair. While his Abe Lincolnesque creation won critical acclaim from the head table, the ICF’ers sitting below the salt had to settle for people’s choice as the loudest group from a small town . . . which validated the first design choice for the backs of the RWB shirts: Two brave men and a whole lotta mouthy women from the Island County Fair Association.All valor aside, however, the more sedate sentiment of Wenatchee: where East meets West decorated delegates’ backsides. Referring to herself as a fair virgin, voting delegate Linda Lee Martens embraced attendance at the convention as an exciting opportunity to interact with other statewide fair delegates. After polling all her roomies, Martens cast her ballot for the eventual winners of the two open positions, Mark Campbell of King County Parks System and Steve Heater of Northeast Washington Fair. No stranger herself to WSFA conventions, Eva Mae Gabelein especially enjoyed this year’s event because with so many of us who went, we learned a lot, particularly ways to improve our displays and increase our state statistics reports. That means more money to the Fair, you know. For the first time this year, the state fair commissioners held two sessions on how fairs are scored, and how those scores translate into dollars.Trust Eva Mae to see that many of those ideas are put into action, particularly since she took to heart keynote speaker Lou Tice’s opening address on motivation. He really set you on fire, she said. When asked what he found most informative about this year’s event, the first such he’s attended on the wrong side of a mike, Jim Freeman looked quizzical but promptly said, I think it must have been all the different kinds of apples we have and how differently they all taste. I haven’t seen that much fruit since my last family reunion.Freeman added that he will consider attending next year’s convention only if it’s near a McDonald’s with 99-cent filet-o-fish Fridays. ICF East headquarters was a Travelodge situated behind a KFC, with the Colonel’s revolving bucket casting a come-hither glow throughout the night. Freeman prefers the golden arches. Board chairman Ruth Turner said she’s already reserved five rooms next year in Tacoma. If more than 20 fair boosters decide to make that trip, Turner said We might even win an [official] award for the largest group attending! As is true with the fairgrounds itself, the Island County Fair Association manages to appear larger than it actually is. Thurston County edged out Island County with 21 delegates, but it’s guaranteed that no group present showed more spirit or had more fun. Just ask anyone who was there.”