New director looks forward to fair

Kate Ackerson has been hired to be the new manager of the Elmore County Fair and Rodeo, replacing Cathy Wylie, whose contract was not renewed by the fair board last fall.

Ackerson, whose husband serves with the United States Air Force in the 726th Air Control Squadron at Mountain Home AFB, has previously worked as an administrative assistant to several companies in Europe and the United States, moving up to management positions in each case.

A mother of three, she said she was "looking for a good challenge," when she decided to apply for the job.

"I wanted the challenge," she said. "I'd been a stay-at-home mom for a long time."

Displaying obvious energy and enthusiasm for the job, she noted that "it requires a lot of organizational skills, and I'm strong on that."

As fair manager she will organize the overall operations of the fair (although the rodeo and youth programs are handled seperately), handle the finances and serve as secretary to the fair board.

When Wylie was hired in the early '90s the fair was nearly dead, with low participation and almost no crowds attending. She was credited with reviving the fair, adding the carnival and a number of activities, and restoring its vitality, building a basic "Norman Rockwell" county fair. But over the years, increasing friction between her and the board ultimatelly resulted in her being let go last fall.

Ackerson, who has not met with Wylie, said that "given the limitations we have at the fairgrounds, I think she did a great job.

"I'll be following a lot of her structures for my initial fair" this summer.

The fair will be held July 23-29 and this year's theme is "Honoring Our Military -- Past, Present and Future."

"I'd really like to get a lot more people from the base involved -- and attending -- the fair, she said. Military members will receive special price discounts on admission fees.

She's just getting started, but she said she hopes to bring back the Jeff Palmer Band to perform on Friday and Saturday nights, and will try and keep Relative Rich for the Wednesday night shows. For Thursday night's entertainment she's hoping to find a band composed primarily of members serving in the military.

She'll keep the same carnival, but hopes to expand the midway with more and different vendors.

At the same time, she admits, "we have a limited budget. With the timeline I've been given, we'll follow Cathy's formula. It wasn't broken."

She said she enters the job without any preconceptions, which can be a plus, and noted that "so far in the planning process, I've had nothing but help. People in the know have been more than willing to help me."

She noted that Wylie handled the fair manager duties while holding down a full-time job elsewhere. "To her credit, I don't know how she did it. But I'll be full-time on this."

The fair office most of the year is at the University of Idaho Extension offices in Mountain Home, but Ackerson said the Glenns Ferry office hours will be expanded leading up to the fair -- instead of just the week before and during the fair as in the past -- in order to help people making final plans for participation.

"I'm looking forward to this," she said.