State fair frenzy

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Jerry Parkin ranks mini-doughnuts and pork chops on a stick high on his list of favorite foods at the Iowa State Fair, but a good cup of coffee is what he’s really looking forward to at this year’s event.

“When you wake up out there at 5 a.m., you want a good cup of coffee,” Parkin said. “I heard that an honest-to-life coffee stand is going to open this year up by the museum, and you can bet that I’ll be there.”

Now in his fifth year on the Iowa State Fair Board, Parkin, spends nearly half of the month of August living at the fairgrounds, making his temporary home in a bedroom in the Administration Building. This room will also double as his makeshift office while he juggles his full-time job responsibilities as the director of state public affairs for Deere & Co.

“I carry my cell phone and my BlackBerry with me at all times, and I check my e-mails every day from my laptop,” said Parkin. “People at John Deere know that I’m out there, and they don’t hesitate to contact me.”

During the fair, board members’ days begin with 7 a.m. meetings, followed by another midday meeting and visits to the buildings they oversee. At any point during the day, the fair board may be called on to address disqualifications of entrants, concessionaire complaints and a variety of other issues that require policy decisions. They also try to spend a significant part of the day actually taking in the fair.

“We try to be out and about as much as possible,” Parkin said. “The staff doesn’t always have the luxury to get out, so we’re kind of the face of the fair to a lot of people and we can work back and forth with the staff to get things accomplished.”

Parkin, an Eastern Iowa native, has not been a traditional fair-goer for a number of years. In 1984, a friend asked him to fill in as a judge for the State Fair Queen pageant, and he continued to judge that competition for 17 years. That job led him to take on more responsibility with the fair in 2001 by becoming a board member. He represents the South Central part of Iowa. Parkin’s wife, Randall, is also involved in the fair, and volunteers in the fabrics and threads area. Their 21-year-old son, Josh, is a veteran water patrol worker.

Like Parkin, Paula Barnes, the superintendent of information for the Iowa State Fair, also took on increasingly more responsibility with the fair since becoming a volunteer 11 years ago. This year is her second year as a superintendent. She takes two weeks of vacation from her marketing job at Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc. in order to oversee volunteers.

Barnes participated in state fairs during her youth, starting as an exhibitor at the Indiana State Fair when she was only 2 years old, with the help of her grandfather. She loves states fair so much that she and her husband, Ernie, spent their honeymoon at one 25 years ago in Memphis.

She says the magic of the event never wears off, and that she still gets a “warm and fuzzy feeling” when she walks in the gates of the Iowa State Fair, which she has attended faithfully since she moved to the state 20 years ago.

“Once the fair gets in your blood, you’re hooked for life,” she said.

Barnes organizes more than 400 volunteers to work four-hour shifts at the Blue Ribbon Foundation’s information booths. She and her husband, the fair’s swine superintendent and assistant vice president of state relations for the National Pork Board, camp at the fairgrounds’ campground during the event so they’re nearby if something happens in the areas they oversee. Their children have also been involved in the fair; Courtney is the reigning state fair queen, and Josh is a former member of the water patrol.

Being a superintendent at the fair requires a major time commitment, but one that’s fun and rewarding, Barnes said. She has many fond memories of volunteering at the fair, including last year, when her volunteers delivered a guinea grinder sandwich to a terminally ill patient in the hospital, which “brought tears to the eyes of that family.” Also last she, she witnessed one woman’s elation when a volunteer presented her with her with the wedding ring she had lost earlier that day.

“I’m sure we’re going to make new memories this year,” Barnes said. “Nothing warms your heart more than the fair.”