The people in charge of putting on the Whidbey Island Fair are quite the pair.
Carol Coble, 59, and Kiley Grant, 29, could be mother and daughter. In some ways, they kind of are. Grant was good friends with Coble’s daughter and they have known each for the past 20-plus years. They can finish each other’s sentences and are frank and honest with each other during their part-time duties as interim co-fair administrators.
Since late February, they have run the administrative office of the Island County Fair Association, the group tasked with putting on the four-day annual event. That means when someone calls asking about the dates for the fair, they’re the ones who answer. They went out and made sure vendors are signed up to sell food, merchandise and ride tickets.
Coble and Grant are largely leading by following. Rather than offer top-down solutions, the two longtime fairgoers and presenters are seeking input from the building supervisors, fair association and others into shaping this year’s fair.
“There’s people who have a lot of experience,” said Coble, who spoke the most during a recent 90-minute visit to the fairgrounds. “We draw from that.”
“We really work for everyone that comes in the door,” Coble later said. “We can’t act like we’re the bosses of everything.”
Grant added, “That would be a lie.”
She says that, but her office is perfectly organized. Folders mark different vendors and presenters for the fair. Both Coble and Grant keep a folder marked “Carol’s 2016 ideas” or “Kiley’s 2016 ideas” with thoughts for next year’s fair, even though the 2015 fair has yet to begin.
“We’re not trying to reinvent the wheel, but we are trying to innovate,” Coble said.
One of their hallmark ideas was seeking a corporate sponsor for the fair’s main stage entertainment this year. They asked, and they received. Whidbey Telecom is sponsoring the headlining performer, country musician Chance McKinney.
“They’ve done a great job,” said Jason Kalk, fair association board president. “We had great success with the fundraiser.”
The fair association held a fundraiser recently and saw generous returns, all of which go toward putting on the Whidbey Island Fair —rebranded from it previous title of Whidbey Island Area Fair.
Coble and Grant’s professional, work relationship goes back several years. Coble, who owns Carol’s Coffee Barn in Bayview, hired Grant to operate her espresso stand years ago. When Grant moved on to a different job, it was bittersweet for Coble, she said. Now, they’re working together as colleagues, no longer employer-employee.
“They both have different talents,” Kalk said. “It ended up that they can complement each other well, between Carol’s abilities to network and Kiley’s office (skill) set.”
Coming in with a service industry background, they appear well suited to handle all of the calls they receive. Their motto, they both said, is to make things easier for others.
“We say that a lot,” said Grant, amid checking email and paperwork from her desk. She apologized for working while being interviewed by The Record, but kept at it until being asked to leave the office for photographs.
“Now we’re in crunch time,” Coble said, letting a handful of phone calls ring their way to a voice message. “Yes, there’s some chaos, but I’m addicted to chaos.”
