Merced County Fair Names New CEO
By Diane Booth Conway,
Merced County Fair Publicity Director

   She grew up on a small, family farm in the Sierra foothills, milking a cow named Jezabel, every morning and evening. She helped tend a large vegetable garden and fruit and walnut trees, while raising pigs to show at the fair.
   Fairs and agriculture have always played a big part in the life of Robin Hauck, the new CEO for the Merced County Fair.
   Hauck, 46, was recently hired by the Merced County Fair Board of Directors following a search that began in August. She will replace CEO Cheryl Davidson, who retires effective January 27, 2006. Davidson has been with the Merced County Fair since 1973.
   Hauck will be paid $72,000 a year and starts her new job on November 1. She is currently living in Somerset, a Sierra foothill town in El Dorado County, but is in the process of buying a home in Merced County.
   She worked for the El Dorado County Fair for 17 years, before launching her own business five years ago as an independent contractor.
   She has an Associate of Science degree in general agriculture from Sierra College in Rocklin and graduated from Cal Poly in 1982 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Agricultural Business Management.
   Hauck worked for the El Dorado County Fair from 1983 to 2000, where she assisted the general manager in planning and coordinating annual events that attracted up to 63,000 people.
Her duties included admissions, accounting, personnel, purchasing, developing major maintenance projects and state funding grants, supervising and training full- and part-time employees and management of rental facilities.

"The Merced County Fair is such a huge agricultural fair and that's my love," said Hauck

   She started her own business in 2000 as a fair industry consultant. For four years she provided special project services to several fairs including fairtime operations, revenue control, concession auditing, exhibit program management, exhibit and display construction, preventative maintenance programs, sponsorship development and office management.
   This year Hauck completed the Western Fairs Association's executive development program -- a one-year position to prepare candidates for fair management careers. The program consists of training at Western Fairs Association, the Division of Fairs and Expositions, State Department of Food and Agriculture and industry-related groups such as the California Construction Authority and California Fair Services Authority. She also underwent training at two fairs -- the Orange County Fair in Costa Mesa and the Kern County Fair in Bakersfield.
   Some of her other experience includes working at the Grand National Rodeo, Horse and Stock Show in San Francisco, at the California State Fair, Santa Barbara County Fair & Expo, the Calaveras County Fair and the Sonoma County Harvest Fair.
   Hauck is looking forward to learning about the Merced County Fair and the community with Davidson's help. "I'm such a community-minded person so I see this time as a great opportunity when Cheryl and the board will be able to help introduce me to the community and all the people who work at the fair."
   Marc Garcia, president of the Merced County Fair Board of Directors, said of the new CEO, "The Merced County Fair is fortunate to have someone with such extensive experience and knowledge to carry on the high quality of leadership we have come to expect. The board and I look forward to working with Robin."
   Since much of the planning for the 2006 Merced County Fair is already well under way, Hauck said, "I want to observe and participate in the fair, but I don't see myself making any major changes the first year until I get to know this area and the fair better."
   She is impressed with the strong bonds that exist between the area residents and the fair. "The fair does seem to have a wonderful working relationship with the community," Hauck said, adding that she wants to maintain that connection. "I want to keep that tie to our heritage because that's what fairs are all about. It's like old home week. It's a family reunion. That's what the fair is -- coming home to the fair."
   The new CEO has been at the Merced County Fair during fair time and for non-fair events. When the search for Davidson's replacement was announced Hauck applied for several reasons. "The Merced County Fair fairgrounds are very nice and after I did my homework I talked to Cheryl Davidson and told her 'she has some very big shoes to fill,' " Hauck said.
   "The Merced County Fair is such a huge agricultural fair and that's my love," said Hauck who grew up with livestock and aspired to be an ag teacher.
   "The Merced County Fair has a very large competitive exhibit department and an impressive number of ag exhibits. The ag exhibits are the one thing that make us unique compared to any kind of recreation facility or attraction in the state," she said. "You can compare us to amusement parks -- we all have rides, we all have vendors and we all have food, but the competitive exhibits are what ties the fair to the community."
   Hauck, who is single, also was interested in the Merced fair position because she has long-time friends in the area and it's not far from her family in Placer and Yuba counties. She and her two sisters still own the family farm in Loomis, Placer County.
   Growing up on a small farm, the Hauck family had a large garden every year. "My sisters and I each had our own little plots in the garden where we could grow things just for the fair." Each year, the girls would enter plants, fruits and vegetables in the Placer County Fair in Roseville in July and the Gold Country Fair in Auburn in September. Hauck also was in 4-H, exhibiting her hand-made garments and creative crafts at several fairs.
   In addition to exhibiting at those two fairs, when Hauck got older she clerked at the same fairs. "Those fairs ended up playing a huge part in my life."
   There were always lots of animals around the family farm. Hauck was in FFA and raised pigs to show at the Placer County Fair and the Gold Country Fair. "I always say that my pigs put me through college."
   The farm menagerie included a few steers and horses, ducks and geese. Hauck raised rabbits, one sister raised chickens and her youngest sister raised and showed sheep when she got older. "We had everything including the family donkey, Elmer." Until she went away to college, it was Hauck's chore to milk the family cow each morning and night.
   Her parents left the farm to go to jobs during the day, but the family thrived living in their country home with a huge garden and orchard, canning the fruits of their labors each summer, Hauck said, adding, "I grew up in true country farm living."
   For more information, call the fair office at 722-1507 or e-mail to Info@MercedCountyFair.com or fax at 722-3773. Go to the Merced County Fair’s award-winning website, www.mercedcountyfair.com

Top of page