Puyallup Fair Memories: Mine Go All The Way Back to Osmonds, Fire

Growing up in Puyallup, and living just beneath Good Samaritan Hospital, my memories of the Puyallup Fair go way back.

My first memory is seeing the Osmond Brothers. I looked it up online on the history of the fair and found out I was 9 because it was in 1966. I remember it so well because they had to perform on a small stage set up in the covered stands because it was raining so hard behind them. It seemed like they were really close. They sang and danced well and seemed like a nice family so I was a fan.

I remember a ride called The Old Mill, although it was known as the Tunnel of Love. I wished it was still there when I was in high school, but it burned down in the big fire in 1970. I remember that night well. It was about 4 a.m., and my dad woke us all up. We lived close by on south hill so it really looked like Tacoma was on fire. But it was the fair.

We used to climb out on the roof of our house and watch the fireworks.

I remember playing football and baseball with the neighbors in the parking lot on the east side of the fair and being able to see part of the horse races. They were really popular but they ended in 1977 because of so many problems with a muddy track. I sure miss those races.

In the seventh grade I was so happy because I got to go to the fair with my best friend instead of going with my family. He talked me into going on the Hammer ,which scared me to death. In the ninth grade I was the quarterback and went with my girlfriend, who was the head cheerleader at Kalles Junior High. I bought her a cool ring, but by Halloween the romance had ended.

In high school I worked the fair. I was one of those guys that tried to call you in to throw a football through a tire. I showed everyone how easy it was. Of course I was closer and got to throw the ball at an angle so it wasn’t that hard for me. We used to work really long days and made about $1.85 an hour but at least it was some money. I snuck into a few concerts so that was fun.

I remember when they first came up with the jingle Do The Puyallup and thinking how stupid it was. I can’t believe it’s stuck around this long.

I moved away for awhile, so didn’t get back to the fair until I was about 30 or so. That was the first time I rode the roller coaster. It had scared me when I was a kid. But I took my family to a big theme park in the Bay area and road the upside-down coaster there so I thought the old wooden one would be a piece of cake. It was.

In more recent years I’ve gone to the fair mostly to see concerts: Mercy Me, Brooks and Dunn, Third Day, and so many more. I liked that we could get into the fair free with our concert ticket, so I felt like we were getting a deal.

More recently I started working again at the fair because of unemployment woes. My sister ran the Marcoe’s company operation for years. So I worked for her selling caramel apples. I can’t believe people spend $6 or more for each one of those.

This year I got to enjoy the fair, going all over and looking at the exhibits before my shift at the Patch.com tent. I had the best time peacefully looking at all the exhibits and displays. I remember as a kid hating those; I wanted to go on the rides and eat junk, and try to win a prize. I didn’t do any of those this year. It was a step back in time for me; it had that old-fashioned feeling about it, even with the thousands of people surrounding me.