His Job Is A Love Of Fair Joe Polello Has Helped Out Every Year Since 1957

Joe Polello was a pretty fair point guard for the local Air Force basketball team back in the late-1940s.

But he’s a better cheerleader.

Fifty weeks of the year, Polello is an inspector for the Spokane Regional Health District. But for two weeks every summer since 1957, he’s worked at the Spokane Interstate Fair, selling tickets, greeting VIPs, acting as gofer, troubleshooter and ambassador.

“It’s like a good steak; I can’t get enough of it,” said Polello, 70, who in earlier years worked in the front offices of Spokane sports franchises.

The fair could not have a better promoter than Polello, who is built like a penguin but has the metabolism of a hummingbird.

He enjoys the rides. He likes the vendors. He appreciates the work that goes into turning a barnyard nag into a ribbon winner.

But it’s not those attractions that keep him coming back year after year.

“My favorite thing at the fair - I’ve got to be honest with you - it’s the people,” he said. “I’ve seen families come here every year. They came as youths and now they’re coming as adults with their own kids.”

He’s got nothing bad to say about any of the managers he’s known. “He did a lot for the fair,” he says about each as he runs down the list of the two Meenach brothers, Ray Perry, Sam Angove and Paul Gillingham.

Is the fair too commercial?

“That’s show biz,” he says. “Without it, it’d be a pretty poor fair.”

Is livestock getting short shrift? “The barns are better than ever.”

Is $24 too much for a family of four? “It’s still less than a major movie … People do that every day.”

And, he noted, you can’t see a rodeo or pet a pig at the cinema.

“There’s no comparison.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo