English works on first Great Northern Fair from the start

The Great Northern Fairgrounds manager is in his third year, but this is only his second fair - after the 2020 fair was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic - and the first fair he has worked on from the ground up.

Havre native Frank English was hired as the manager of the Great Northern Fair and campground in 2019, just before the fair.

He said this is his first year in the role starting from scratch. The 2019 fair was close to set when he started.

He said his approach to the job is simple - to make as many people smile as possible.

English's duties include coordinating the fairgrounds, helping people who use the fairgrounds and what work is needed to maintain and use the grounds.

"I was just looking (for) something to fill my time and I've been involved in a lot of community things around town all my life. I was in the military and spent 2003, -4 and -5 in Iraq, came back hometown-proud type of thing, and I just wanted to make the fair go, basically," English said.

In Iraq, he worked as a heavy wheel vehicle mechanic and worked in convoy security and recovery.

English has a history in construction having worked for Clausen & Sons out of high school for a few years, he said. Following his time in construction, he spent about five years working in oil fields before being sent to Iraq.

English is an independent contractor in construction, doing projects with drywall, concrete and more.

The fair board chair said in 2019 that, when they hired him, his construction experience was a major factor in the decision.

The Great Northern Fair Board had been without a fair manager since March 2018 and ran that year's fair using all volunteers, including members of the board.

The board had approved hiring English previously as an independent contractor, but the state Department of Labor informed the board that, as the position was described, it could not be contracted in that way. The board re-opened applications for the position as a county employee.

English said many of his friends in town urged him to take the job.

"So I was like, 'All right, I guess I'll try to get it fixed up the best I can.' And so I've been working a lot," he said.

He said he was trying this year to get everything cleaned up and working at the fairgrounds. He added that the campgrounds in the area are full.

English has also been working together with Hill County Treasurer Sandy Brown to increase barn memberships at the Bigger Better Barn.

"We had record numbers in the Bigger Better Barn for barn memberships from riders. So that has been huge. Other than that, it's just business as usual, just maintenance, fixing stuff that's been breaking and upgrading as much as we possibly can, trying to keep the grounds looking, making the grounds look better," English said.

The Great Northern Fair Board had been searching for a manager for some time prior to hiring English. When budget issues arose, the manager was furloughed and later resigned. The fair board members and other volunteers ran the 2018 fair and managed the grounds.

English said he is happy to be working on the fair from the start.

"I'm just excited to have something big here for the community," he said. "I just want to do my best for them and give them a show, give them what they paid for, basically, making the place clean and pretty, and giving them a bigger, better carnival than we've had in the past and more entertainment than they've had in the past. That's my goal. Just to make as many people smile as possible is what I want to do."