Married in 1979 Richard (Stik) and Rachel West will be married 45 years on August 31st.

If you have been a part of the fair for very long, you know that technology has vital role in the everyday functioning and smoothness of its workings, and we have this technology thanks to Rachel and her sister, Janice Parrott. After Stik and Rachel’s children graduated from showing animals and participating in 4H and FFA, Rachel then agreed to come back and work in the Eddy County Fair office f200-2006, stepping down and yet still serving as a lifeline to the office with support for the computers and network.

Rachel is a native of Eddy County, raised outside of Carlsbad by her parents, Jess and Ann Rayroux. Rachel grew up with a love of agriculture and her family. She also has a love for her belief and strength she fins in her church. Rachel not only has an understanding and passion for technology but a very remarkable fact about Rachel is that she was the first person to gain the Microsoft certifications in Carlsbad, which helped her when working for Carlsbad Municipal Schools technology department and then starting her own business.

Stik, born to Richard (Dick) and Glenda West, is also a native to Eddy County. Stik worked for IMC before retiring from WIPP and his position as the lead of the Mine Rescue team. When the couple is not in Timberon, NM, at their cabin, they enjoy spending time in their huge garden, looking after the farm, and checking cattle. The couple was blessed with three children, Tom, Mike (wife Jaclyn), and Chris (wife Ashley), and 6 grandchildren, which are Stik and Rachel’s pride and joy.

The American county fair Is typically a place where agriculture and public involvement are combined, with events such as junior livestock shows offered alongside carnival rides and fried food. The Eddy County fair is one such place, designed with the education and entertainment of the public in mind, according to the president of the Eddy County Fair Board of Directors, Dylan Pinson.

Fairs have been around for centuries, according to the International Association of Fairs and Expos. The first agricultural county fair in the United States was in 1811, and the idea spread throughout the states and territories throughout the century.

This year, the Eddy County Fair begins its 79th iteration. The fair originally consisted of its characteristic livestock shows but has since grown to include more opportunities for the public to get involved, according to Pinson.

“We’ve always been focused on the kids and their livestock projects, and now we’re working on the public side of that and the entertainment side to bring the public out,” Pinson said. “The kids work extremely hard on their projects, but this is the opportunity for the rural and the urban to come together and learn about the livestock projects, [which] is what the whole purpose of the fair is.”

The fair has remained true to its roots with the junior livestock sale being the largest in the state of New Mexico, Pinson said.

“That really brings competition, and it really brings high quality animals,” Pinson said.

The revenue from the livestock sale has been over $1 million for the past several years, Pinson said. Last year, the revenue from the junior livestock sale at the New Mexico State Fair, the largest fair in the state, was $710,090, according to KRQE News.

Pinson said the quality of livestock is what sets the Eddy County Fair apart from other fairs and is part of the impact on the community.

The livestock sale is rewarding for the kids who raise the animals because they get to see the culmination of their hard work, Pinson said.

“They’ve had those animals and they’re working on every single day raising up, training them and growing them,” Pinson said. “It’s their summer activity. And then for them to come to the fair, then they have an opportunity to exhibit it and then sell it.”

The result of the participants’ hard work in raising the animals is an environment where the community can come together, Pinson said. The livestock sale is also rewarding for the public who can learn about agriculture through the shows, he said.

Livestock is a large part of New Mexico’s agriculture industry. According to a 2022 census by the National Agricultural Statistics Service, that year farms and ranches in the state sold $2.95 billion in agricultural products, with 70% of sales being livestock.

The fair board has been determined to accommodate the public interest in the fair, with expansions on the way like a new livestock building, Pinson said.

“We’re really focused on building something that fits the growth and fits what the community wants,” Pinson said.

Pinson advocated for people attending the fair, citing livestock shows as a way that the public can enjoy the fair while also supporting the youth of Eddy County.

“We have it all, we just want the community to participate with us,” Pinson said.

Daily Press Writer After a years-long hiatus, the carnival is back at the Eddy County fair, according to Dylan Pinson, president of the Eddy County Fair Board of Directors.

This year, a new company is bringing the carnival to the Eddy County Fair. This is the first year since the previous company went out of business that the fair board was able to find a company that could accommodate the fair on its route, Pinson said.

“I don’t think we’ve had a carnival for five years and we’ve been fighting to try and get one for the past five years,” Pinson said.

The carnival will be the largest at the Eddy County Fair yet, said Pinson.

“The carnival is huge,” Pinson said. “It is the biggest carnival that our team has ever had come through here.”

The new company, Wright’s Amusements, is bringing over 25 rides, according to the fair’s Facebook page. The company travels yearround to events throughout Colorado, New Mexico, Arkansas and Texas, according to its website.

The carnival will be running from Tuesday through Saturday evenings, Pinson said.

Aren Dade, a volunteer who works with the fair board and entertainment committee, said that people are excited for the carnival to be back at the fair this year. For the past few years, when the fair board was unable to secure a carnival for the fair, people wanted to see it come back, he said.

“I’ve heard from many people that they’re excited for the carnival,” Dade said.

The carnival brings people from communities around Eddy County, especially families with children, Dade said. Pinson said he expects the carnival to bring more than 3,000 people to the fair per night.

Entertainment at the fair this year also includes concerts. This year, the performers are William Clark Green and Easton Corbin on July 25 and John Wolfe on July 26, with a Faith and Family Night concert by Sanctus Real and Josh Wilson on July 24.

Each year, the fair board and its entertainment committee choose the performers based on a list of possible options from management companies they have worked with, Dade said. They begin reaching out to artists around December and January to prepare for the fair in July, looking for country artists who have name recognition to promote attendance, Dade said.

“Being a county fair, we look for more of a country artist,” Dade said. “We do look for at least somebody that, whether it be a Thursday night headliner or a Friday night headliner, somebody that’s got a name that’s a little more recognizable that will help draw in that crowd.” Name recognition draws a crowd to the concerts because people have heard the artist on the radio, for example, and know they want to see them, Dade said. He also added that recognizing an artist’s name may draw people from other places to come to see the fair.

“Getting those bigger names out there, you kind of get a little more excitement from people with that,” Dade said.

The goal of bringing bigname artists to the fair is to generate attendance to support the community, Dade said. The board and entertainment committee look for up and coming artists, artists who are well-known in places like Texas and older artists who can generate a lot of interest, Dade said. Dade emphasized the work that goes into the fair’s junior livestock shows and said that attending the concerts helps support that. He encouraged people to come to the fair not only to watch the concerts, but also to watch the livestock shows and support local vendors.

Other entertainment at the fair will include bull riding, a cornhole tournament, Fire ‘N Ice Competition and the Jack Rauch Anvil Toss.