Hygiene is focus of new fair attraction

PALMER — Washing your hands at the Alaska State Fair is a must, but due to crowded sinks and crowded schedules, people are likely to cut hygienic corners.

According to Director of Marketing and Communication Dean Phipps, petting zoos have been banned in fairs across the country on account of animal-human disease transfer that occurs when kids don’t wash their hands after coming into contact with bacteria such as E. coli.

The Alaska fair has not had this problem, to staff’s knowledge, but proactive measures are being taken to keep fairgoers clean and healthy with Sudsy’s Barn, “a play-based, interactive hand-washing station that encourages effective hygiene by making it fun for all,” as described in a State Fair press release.

“Kids like it, that’s what matters,” said Sudsy coordinator and the fair’s horse barn overseer, Jesse Stubblefield.

Stubblefield is in charge of the maintenance of the barn and praised the “fail safes” present in the operation of the station.

“If anything goes wrong anywhere I get flashing red lights right away, and none of the water (ever) gets reused,” Stubblefield said.

General manager Ray Ritari agreed that entertainment and health are definitely priorities at the state fair.

“We believe animal interaction is an important aspect of the fair experience, and we must do our best to minimize the risk of disease transfer from animals to humans,” Ritari said in a press release.

Elisa Hays, the creator of Sudsy’s Barn, said she came up with the idea by asking a simple question and finding a simple answer.

“Why can’t we get people, and especially kids, to wash their hands? Because it isn’t fun, that’s why!” Hays says in the press release.

“As a professional entertainer who specializes in getting kids and adults to do silly things they didn’t think they wanted to, I know a bit about motivating people through the power of play,” she said.

Sudsy’s Barn is now a registered trademark of Let’s Pretend Entertainment based in western Washington and run by Hays as the CEO. One client is credited on the company website as having said that Sudsy’s is “like a Disney attraction” with the hand-carved, colorfully painted animals and recorded voices used to engage kids in the hand-washing process. There are only three units currently available in the whole country, two of which are for rent, and the Alaska State Fair is the only private owner of a custom-made barn.

“People think we’re a state program but we’re not, we’re a private non-profit,” Stubblefield said. “Everybody here really wants to put into this community, and (Sudsy) is one thing we’re doing to achieve that.”

The barn was purchased with grants from the Rasmuson Foundation and the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services and is located right inside the Farm Exhibit building at the fair.

For most people, Sudsy’s Barn will probably be just the tip of the iceberg for what’s new this year, so fairgoers are encouraged to keep an eye out for other innovations.

“The 2014 Fair is probably the greatest ‘whoa factor’ fair this state’s ever had,” Stubblefield said.