The Puyallup Fair starts today (TNT link). The organizers are insisting on calling it the Washington State Fair in Puyallup, but that’s just being dumb. I mean they have their reasons and bless them for that. But honestly, how many humans had to agree to that change? I bet it was more than one human.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for upending tradition when it’s needed. If calling it The Puyallup Fair was racist or sexist, for example, I’d say tradition be damned, find a new name. But there’s no need to change it, and it was lovely that we called that instead of the State Fair. Every state has a state fair, but only we had The Puyallup Fair. So I’m going to keep calling it that.
Given how curmudgeonly I feel about this in my 30’s, I’m already sorry for people who know me in the future. I also call it the Bus Tunnel even though I probably use it for rail more than buses now, and I call the stadium where the Seahawks play Seahawks Stadium.
I assume the organizers regularly had difficulty in booking national acts, vendors, etc. because they thought it was a local fair, and nobody knew how to pronounce it anyway.
So nationally, they will call it the Washington State Fair, but locally we will continue to call it the Puyallup. The danger now is that national acts, vendors, etc. will be confused between the Washington State Fair at Puyallup and the Washington State Fair at Monroe.
Seahawks Stadium, sure. But that other building next to it is New Sicks Stadium.
Like rhp6033 said, the Puyallup Fair is not part of the County Fair Circuit, like the Thurston County Fair in Lacey or the King County fair in Monroe. It’s a set vendor/ride/show event with a veneer of a county fair. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but calling it the Washington Fair is pretending to be something it’s not.
And Susan Hutchinson is a Republican no matter what she calls herself.
Given that the Seahawks only play there 8-10 times a year, and the Sounders play there 17-20 times a year, shouldn’t it be Sounders Stadium?
Heck, I’ve even called the Seahawk stadium the Kingdome, although obviously that doesn’t make sense.
This unwarranted degradation of an honorable appellation is indeed an unmitigated outrage!
No, it’s worse than making fun of Mount Mitchell! (Mount Mitchell, as if you didn’t know, is the highest of the appellations.)
And it’s a tragedy, too. Maybe it’s because I wasn’t born here and don’t take things for granted in the Great Northwest, but I am acutely aware of the beneficial effects of saying “Puyallup”. And “fair” just tops it off. I can’t tell you how many times just repeating “Puyallup” to myself in times of stress and trouble has brought the sound of “Puyallup” to my ears. It works every time! I save the “fair” for those dark nights of the sole, when my feet hurt.
I wish they hadn’t changed it, and my wife, a native of this here fair state will be abashed, too. She won’t be gruntled, at any rate.
“Given how curmudgeonly I feel about this in my 30’s, I’m already sorry for people who know me in the future.”
When you will point down at the tunnel and say “Just take the viaduct…”?
3: Just for the record, Monroe is in Snohomish County. Went to high school there an eternity ago.
@8,
I wasn’t planning on it, but now I totally am going to have to.
@3, 9
Just for the record, the King County Fair is in Enumclaw
OH, THE PROFUNDITY!!!1!!1
The Fair in Monroe is The Evergreen State Fair, owned and operated by Snohomish County.
There is just one word for abandoning the name “Puyallup”: Dumb!
As a 40 year manager and agent for performing artists, I can tell you that we don’t care what the name of the event is as long as they can pay our fee, have a good reputation, and fit into our schedule. “National acts” will show up if you show them the money.
Name changing is often a refuge for staff and boards to mask their lack of vision and marketing competence. “Puyallup” is very popular with the ticket buying public. It has been used well in the past, e. g. the “Do the Puyallup” commercials. It is a strong brand, and “Washington State Fair” is weak, at best. The first thing I thought when I heard about the name change is that someone should take a look at their books.
Goodbye, Puyallup Fair! Those were the days of swine and roses. Will we ever see their like again?
And as a final insult, my Google spel-chek wants to call it “Pullup” O, tempura, Oh morays!