Our state fair relies on members

There is an old musical movie “State Fair” based on the book of the same title by Phil Stong. The most memorable song has the refrain “Our State Fair is the Best Fair!” The book and movie are about the Iowa State Fair. They have it wrong. The Alaska State Fair is the best state fair. The book also introduced me to the word “thaumaturgy”: “the performance of miracles or wonders.” It links everyday people to the creation of miracles and wonders, like fairs. Oh, Please! Give me a break!

No.

Our fair is special. It needs your help. It is a fair created and governed by volunteers. They have been the thaumaturgists among us and they did something wonderful in our borough. There are about 3,000 fairs in this nation. Every year a few more disappear. They are victims of the modern theme park industry, which I also appreciate. In fact, in 1971 I almost unintentionally doomed our fair by writing an extended letter with maps and photos to the Disney Company asking them to relocate to Chitna. A Mr. Ober Tyus wrote me a very nice reply declining my suggestion because they had a “Florida project.” I interpreted that to mean they would come after Disney World was built. I waited. They never came. So I decided to join the closest thing to Disneyland in Alaska, our fair.

It is easy to do. For $15 a year you can become a member. A life membership is $150. Members can vote for or even run for the board. For seven decades a few intrepid Valley residents have kept the membership hovering between a couple dozen to a few hundred members, depending on the year. This is not a government created or supported institution. In 1936, the local Grange through the animated encouragement of M.D. Snodgrass kicked off the first three-day “Matanuska Valley Agricultural & Industrial Fair” in the gym of what is now the borough headquarters in Palmer. About 3,500 people attended.

These people were on to something. They were thaumaturgists. Now the fair is an 11-day event attended by 300,000 people. With no Six Flags Magic Mountain nearby, this fair is our Disneyland. It is no ordinary fair. This is where the world’s largest cabbage was weighed and displayed. Ride one of the Ferris wheels at dusk and you suddenly know what it is to be immersed in American Midway clutter and at the same time living on the edge of the creation primeval. At the top of the Ferris wheel ride you can see clearly over the trees and there nestled between the mountain walls is Knik Glacier. That is thaumaturgy. There is no other fair anywhere that can do that; it is a celebration that is always in need of new blood.

This fair is our link to our fading agricultural roots, our pioneer past and our childhood fantasies. This fair is no certainty without sustained volunteer membership. Unlike many state fairs, this fair is not state funded. It is a result of citizen initiative and work. This fair closed for four years during World War II. Volunteer members revived it. There have been years when this fair experienced bad weather, low attendance, and then needed a line of credit to carry it through to the next year. It keeps going because people join. Any Alaskan can be a part of the magic. Few take advantage of that opportunity. Join the fair and become a thaumaturgist.

Talis Colberg is mayor of Matanuska-Susitna Borough.