Clark County Fair offers beer and
wine for first time in 139 years

When the ten-day Clark County Fair opens Friday, Aug. 3, fairgoers may partake of suds and vino for the first time since the county fair was organized 139 years ago.

The decision to offer beer and wine was not without controversy. After the county Fair Board announced that a beer and wine garden would be part of the 2007 fair, county commissioners, speaking on behalf of the county as owner of the fairgrounds, said not so fast. But the fair board, through chairman Scott Horenstein, responded that the commissioners had asked the fair board to come up with new money-making ideas. And this was one.

Horenstein said that beer and wine gardens were requested more than anything else in surveys conducted by the fair board.

The beer and wine garden east of the grandstand, facing the back of the stage, is no shrimpy place. It has 970-person capacity.

While there is no viewing of concerts from the wine garden, it does face the arena offering motor sports events.

Also, for the first time in history, the county fair has a presenting sponsor, Alan Webb Auto Group, which is offering $250 in fair dollars for anyone who buys a car from the company at the fair.

Admission to county fair free with Fred Meyer
breakfast pass from 8 to 11 a.m. Friday, Aug. 3

Opening at 8 a.m. Friday, Aug. 3, admission to the Clark County Fair is free until 11 a.m., and that includes a free pancake and sausage breakfast. All that is required is a coupon available from local Fred Meyer Stores.

After that, fair admission is $9 for adults. Seniors will be admitted for $7 and children 7 through 12 will be admitted for $5 each. There is a parking fee also, $5 per vehicle. C-TRAN is offering shuttle service for $1 per person, $3 for groups up to six. The shuttle service sponsored by Peoples Credit Union is from the following locations: Vancouver Mall, Fisher’s Landing, Salmon Creek, La Center, Ridgefield and Battle Ground.

The county fair continues through Sunday, Aug. 12. Fair hours are 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. except for Sundays, when the fair closes at 10 p.m. Except for an early opening Friday, the carnival opens at noon each day.

Opening night entertainment at 7:30 p.m., Friday, Aug. 3, on the main stage, is Emerson Drive. Reserved seating is $18 through Ticketmaster outlets. Grandstand seating for all fair shows is free with admission to the fair. Reserved seating the day of the show, if available, can be acquired at the orange gate.

Country musicians Emerson Drive open the entertainment venue at Clark County Fair at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 3, in the main stage. Reserved seating is $18 through Ticketmaster. Grandstand seating is free with fair admission.

Bank of Clark County adds three persons
to downtown business banking team

     
          Joan Cooper            Samuel Johnson               Todd Zalk

Joan Cooper, Samuel Johnson and Todd Zalk have been appointed vice presidents and business relationship officers in the downtown office of the Bank of Clark County.

Cooper, who has 18 years’ banking

experience, lives in La Center. She is a member of the La Center and the Woodland Chambers of Commerce, participates in Humane Society of Southwest Washington and is a coach for the La Center High School Equestrian Team.

Johnson, who has 21 years’ of banking experience, most recently was with Pathfinders Mortgage. Johnson is a board member of the North/Northwest Business Association and the Sandy Actors’ Organization. He is a past ambassador of the Greater Vancouver Chamber of Commerce and is a member of the Downtown Camas Vision Committee.

Zalk most recently was business development manager for Performance Contracting Inc. He is a member of the networking group B2B Leads, the Battle Ground Chamber of Commerce and is a coach for Clark County Youth Football. Zalk, a graduate of Clark College and George Fox University, holds a masters degree in business administration from George Fox.

Clark College offering American
Sign Language course this fall

Clark College will be offering a credit course in American Sigh Language this fall, according to college president Bob Knight.

The course is appropriate because Vancouver is home to both Clark College and the Washington State School for the Deaf. “We are proud to welcome many graduates of the State School for the Deaf,” Knight says, adding, “the course will help other Clark students to interact more effectively with the deaf and hard-of-hearing.”

Calendar

Riverview Community Bank’s Six-to-Sunset free concerts in Esther Short Park continue this evening, headlining The Beatniks, definitive ’60s and ’70s rock and roll. Food and non-alcoholic beverage vendors are on-hand. <> The third annual four-person, best-ball scramble, benefiting the Lance Armstrong Foundation, begins with check-in at 11:30 a.m. Friday at The Cedars on Salmon Creek, Brush Prairie. A barbecue and awards ceremony follows after golf. For further information, call (541) 753-7258. 

Headlines Thursday, Aug. 2

Growth is focus of Woodland mayor race--Columbian, Tom Vogt

Salesman born only eight years ago--Columbian, Jonathan Nelson

Oregon developer likes Evergreen Airport site--Columbian, Cami Joner

CNN camera catches bridge collapsing--KATU (video)

Wall Street continues its rebound--New York Times, Jeremy W. Peters

As explosives in Iraq get deadlier, makers of armored vehicles alter plans--USA TODAY, Peter Eisler

Iraq Coalition Casualties