Long after the last ride powered down and the fairgrounds emptied, hundreds of volunteers are still remembering the long days, the laughter and the work that made this year’s Benton Franklin Fair & Rodeo one to remember.

After all, a successful fair is more than cotton candy and carnival lights.

The heart of the fair can be found in the animal barns and Agriculture Building where local growers – whether it be of veggies, flowers or animals – showcase their bounty. The fair serves as a reminder of “everything that makes our community special: the remarkable achievements of our youth, the rich bounty of our agricultural heritage, and the simple joy of friendship,” according to the fair’s history.

Though the fair came and went in August, its impact hasn’t faded. For a week or two before the fair began, the community played a key role in setting up the five-day event. In 2024, more than 500 volunteers worked at the fair. 

In the Agriculture Building on Aug. 18, the eve of opening day, the atmosphere was busy, though there were moments of calm. Then it was back to ferrying vegetables and flowers across the room, writing out information slips and preparing activities for kids to participate in during the fair. 

On one side of the room, a line of exhibits displayed wool, fiber arts, gems and minerals, scarecrows and more. But the real rush of activity was centered on the other half of the room, where flowers and vegetables were being dropped off by exhibitors seeking ribbons. It was a feast for the eyes, from shiny tomatoes to vibrant flowers, to wheelbarrows filled with live plants. Passing by the displays, the sweet fragrance of peaches or the sharper scent of herbs and onions wafted by. 

To organize it all took hours of effort. 

For each entry, a colored tag needed to be filled out, indicating the entry’s category, along with a white information card to share with fairgoers. Each entry went next to the judges, who had to enter information into a computer system, and then a runner put the entry on a shelf. 

Once all the entries were in, they needed to undergo another round of judging to determine trophy and rosette winners. The displays needed to be carefully arranged by variety. 

It was a hectic day, with work expected to last up until midnight. But the volunteers wouldn’t have it any other way. 

“We like to do it enough that we burn both ends of the candle,” said Billy Messenger, 40, of Richland, who works the graveyard shift at a Benton City gas station.

Among the array of vegetables on display at the Ag Building are brightly colored tomatoes sporting blue ribbons. Prior to the Benton Franklin Fair & Rodeo’s opening day, volunteers work to label, arrange and judge entries in the Ag Building.

| Photo by Rachel Visick

Family of volunteers

Messenger has volunteered for close to six years, since his mom was first roped in, and was a runner and a judge in previous years. This year, his niece helped out as well. 

Family ties run through the group of volunteers: uncles and nieces, mothers and daughters, brothers and sisters. 

Messenger said he likes having the kids there – they learn along the way and then will have the knowledge to fill in when it’s time for the adults to step down, he said.

Cindy Hernandez, 65, of Kennewick, began sending her children to volunteer for the fair 20 years ago. 

She had met the then-superintendent for the Ag Building shortly after moving to a house near the fairgrounds who told her to send the kids over to help. 

Now, Hernandez serves as the superintendent over the Ag Building and horticulture department. She has volunteered for the past six years, and her kids are still volunteering with her as adults. 

Her daughter Natalie Hernandez is the floriculture superintendent. Now 28, she’s helped out at the fair since childhood. 

But it doesn’t matter if the volunteers are family or not, young or old. Cindy Hernandez said they always need as many hands as they can get. 

For Messenger, the community of volunteers “becomes a family that grows on you after a while.”

Jesus Ramirez, 24, of Pasco, grew up participating in the fair like many of the volunteers. He stands with the corn he grew, entered in the giants category, and his longtime nurse, Randy Dimond, left, 60, of Kennewick. They’re joined by Ramirez’s dog, Casper.

| Photo by Rachel Visick

Fair lovers

Though not everyone has volunteered for two decades, the volunteers have a love for the fair. 

In one corner of the room, past the rows of flowers, a woman stood on top of the tables, stapling colorful fabric up as a backdrop to the plants. It was only Charlene Hughes’ second day volunteering at the fair, but she didn’t seem to be daunted.

The 58-year-old Kennewick woman didn’t know she’d be decorating when she agreed to help out, but already she has plans for how she wants to do things next year. 

Drawn into the volunteer work by a church friend who’s a judge, Hughes was excited to be out in the community and has loved working with a group of people who all love the fair. 

A 40-year Kennewick resident, Hughes said the fair has been a staple throughout her life. 

“Every year it’s better and better,” she said. It’s an event she looks forward to more than Disneyland. 

The fair was a key part of growing up for Jesus Ramirez, 24, of Pasco. He was an FFA student throughout high school and began volunteering. He’s raised pigs, sheep, goats and chickens, and even had some of his animals purchased by Jeremy Bonderman, a former Seattle Mariners pitcher who went to Pasco High School. 

This year, he submitted peppers and several very tall stalks of corn in the giant vegetable category. 

His longtime nurse, Randy Dimond, 60, of Kennewick, has volunteered alongside Ramirez for years. Dimond himself grew up involved in the fair back in the ’70s, entering animals and vegetables alike. 

Ramirez enjoys seeing all the people at the fair. That’s Cindy Hernandez’s favorite part, too: talking and interacting with everyone. 

Some she’s known her entire life, while others she’s only just met. “Everybody helps everybody. It’s a great community project,” she said.