2019 Regular Session ENROLLED
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 144
BY SENATOR MIZELL
A RESOLUTION
To commend the organizers and volunteers of the Washington Parish Free Fair and to
recognize the 2018 Fair Queen, Claire Elise Ingram.
WHEREAS, the organizers and many volunteers who make the Washington Parish
Free Fair a success are to be commended and the 2018 Washington Parish Free Fair Queen,
Claire Elise Ingram, is recognized for having graciously discharged the duties and
responsibilities of her reign; and
WHEREAS, the Free Fair is held annually in October at the Washington Parish
Fairgrounds in Franklinton, Louisiana; and
WHEREAS, 2019 will be the one hundred eighth edition of the Washington Parish
Free Fair, a proud tradition in the Florida parishes of Louisiana, east of the Mississippi
River; and
WHEREAS, the Washington Parish Free Fair is believed to be the largest, based on
attendance records, county or parish free fair in the nation and is the second oldest in
Louisiana; and
WHEREAS, each year, the Washington Parish fair kicks off with the fair parade with
a theme that highlights the creativity and talent of the parish, and the parade is an excellent
family friendly way to celebrate the fair; and
WHEREAS, the fair parade is generally held on the Wednesday of "Fair Week", and
features the fair queen, bands, floats, and marching groups; and
WHEREAS, other special events at the fair include: a five kilometer race; Old
McDonald's Farm, including a petting zoo; the rodeo and livestock show, complete with
rodeo queen and cash prizes; the Country Market, featuring booths filled with handmade and
handcrafted items for sale to fair visitors; the Mile Branch Settlement, an authentic historical
pioneer settlement with historically accurate costumed hosts to teach about life in Louisiana
during the 1880s; and many other enjoyable attractions and events; and
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WHEREAS, the fair is a focus throughout the parish and many work raising their
animals, perfecting their rodeo skills, making handcrafts, and growing produce to show,
almost continually since the end of the previous year's fair; and
WHEREAS, Claire Elise Ingram, Pine High School Class of 2019, has reigned as the
2018 Washington Parish Free Fair Queen since October 2018, and she has represented the
fair at various events, including the 2019 Strawberry Festival in Ponchatoula, Louisiana, and
the Louisiana Association of Fairs and Festivals convention in February 2019; and
WHEREAS, in an age where electronic communication appears to be replacing
face-to-face conversations, the Washington Parish Free Fair brings the entire parish together
in real time and celebrates the skills and talents that, while essential to living in a world
where people ate what they grew, ate fish and seafood that they caught, made furniture from
trees on their "place", made cloth from cotton or wool, also raised or grown on their farm,
and rarely traveled out of the parish, perhaps for their entire lives, are rather foreign to many
in a world where children of the city might not connect the steak they eat with the farms that
raised the cattle and think that "sustainable" is a new term, when their great-grandparents
knew nothing else, but to live from their land; and
WHEREAS, the Washington Parish Free Fair is an event that both showcases the
gifts and talents of the citizens in the parish and offers a venue to celebrate those talents, but
also brings a new sense of where the parish has been and where it is going in this evermore
digital world.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
does hereby commend the organizers and volunteers of the Washington Parish Free Fair and
recognize 2018 Fair Queen, Claire Elise Ingram, for her gracious reign as ambassador for
the fair.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
president of the Washington Parish Free Fair.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
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