Editor’s Note: Hans has quite a sense of humor, as you’ll see reflected here. Must be his European roots!
Meet Hans Bruijn. Bruijn, like the bear. Hans, whose birthplace is Zuid-schermer Holland, is the premium office manager for Western Idaho Fair. He spends a lot of time counting chickens for us, in addition to the ones he raises at his Nampa farm.
Hans has been involved in the American fair business since his early twenties, when he came stateside to work at a West Virginia dairy operation. He was drawn to Idaho by his relatives in 1981. With 13 head of dairy cows he earned through his West Virginia stint, Hans moved his small herd and began life here, then started a family and has been a dairyman most of the time until he took over this position.
We asked him a few questions about his role at Western Idaho Fair, his soccer craze and his fondness for chickens.
Q: You took over from Evelyn Legg who had been premium office manager for 25 years. What was that like?
A: Evelyn was so well organized, it made it so easy. I was used to the livestock shows, but it was more challenging learning how to wrangle the static exhibit departments.
Q: It seems like the women greatly outnumber you in your office. That’s an interesting statistic.
A: There seems to be a long tradition of great volunteers here, who happen to be mostly female. They all work so hard and love what they do. I’m not sure what’s going on with that [statistic], but I’ll tell you I’m not doing any of this on purpose!
Q: About how many exhibits are entered each year at the Fair?
A: Last year we had 14,519 to be exact.
Q: What was the craziest exhibit you have taken? …. the most difficult one to display?
A: It has to be the fish. This year someone entered a fish as a pocket pet in 4-H. We’re trying to figure out how to get a lead rope on him.
As far as the most difficult to display? I would have to say the eagle of a couple years ago, in the barbed wire art. That thing was like 8′ tall and 12′ wide.
Q: How do you see exhibits changing in the future?
A: The agriculture department is really changing. There are a lot more home garden projects and also a lot more small animals like chickens and goats. We have less family farms exhibiting. But people are still finding a way to connect with agriculture.
Q: Does being raised in Holland give you a unique approach to an American fair?
A: There are no fairs in Holland. When I first came to a fair in the states, it was great to see all the different breeds displayed and all the variety in one place.
Q: Rumor has it that you have quite the fetish for soccer. Care to explain?
A: We were born and raised with it. In Holland you have little soccer balls floating around instead of white blood cells. Here I coached and ref’d for 10-plus years.
Q: Explain the chickens.
A: I basically like chickens because it gives me an excuse to build fancy chicken houses…I built one that looks like a Dutch windmill.
Q: Any big plans after you survive the 2010 Western Idaho Fair?
A: Geez, never think that far ahead….probably will go watch the halftime shows at the Vandals games; er, I mean because my daughter is in the marching band there of course.
