Sheep Will Rock at Merced County Fair
By Diane Booth Conway,
Merced County Fair Publicity Director

   She didn’t know much about sheep before entering the 2008 Merced County Fair’s slogan contest, but Janae Elmasian knows more about those wooly critters now and she thinks sheep rock.
   One of Elmasian’s slogan suggestions -- "Come Rock with the Flock” was selected by the Fair's Board of Directors as the winner of the 2008 Merced County Fair's slogan competition. The theme of the 117th fair is sheep, one of Merced County's top agricultural products.
   Elmasian will receive $100 for her winning slogan and a pair of season passes to the six-day fair, July 15-20, 2008.
   The 27-year-old Atwater woman didn’t know much about sheep, but that didn’t stop her from entering the fair’s contest for the first time. “I thought this would be the easiest $100 I ever made,” she said. After reading a newspaper article about the contest and checking out the fair’s website, she did a little online research about sheep and lambs. “I know sheep provide wool for clothing and so forth, but the closest I get to sheep is shopping for clothes,” she said, adding sheepishly that she’s probably never tasted lamb.
   “Trying to make sense out of something that’s five words or less and rhyme at the same time is tough,” Elmasian said. So she decided to play around with the word flock. “I decided rock and flock had a good rhyme. When I think of rock, I think ‘let’s rock,’ like let’s have fun.”
   The slogan that won was her favorite out of eight submissions. “I thought it had a little ring to it. I liked the sound of it,” Elmasian said.
   The slogan winner, who works as a building supervisor, grew up in Atwater and is a graduate of Landmark Christian School in Atwater. Elmasian is single and enjoys reading, shopping and singing in her church choir. She hasn’t been to the fair in about 10 years but has fond memories of seeing a calf born at Old MacDonald’s Farm Mooternity Ward.
   Marisa Brooks of Merced is pretty knowledgeable about sheep and lambs. The 19-year-old was thrilled to learn her slogan entry, “Jam with the Lambs,” took second place in the competition. Growing up in Merced, the fair has always played a big part in her life. She showed lambs at the Merced fair for four years as a member of Lancer’s 4-H Club and also participated in the fair’s annual horse show. At the 2007 Fair, she won horse showmanship and placed third in the Round Robin event.
   For as long as she can remember, Brooks and her mother, Mary, have exhibited roses at the Merced County Fair and collected countless ribbons. A graduate of Our Lady of Mercy School and Golden Valley High School, Marisa Brooks served on the Merced County Junior Fair Board for two years from 2004-2006. Her brother, Daniel, a junior at Santa Clara University, also was on the Junior Fair Board.
   “I love being involved with the fair and every year I look forward to it,” she said. “Since I’m not on the Junior Fair Board any more I still like being involved and entering the contest was a way to do that.”
   Marisa Brooks is a sophomore at the University of California, Davis, majoring in animal science. She is interested in a career working with large animals, and although she thinks sheep rock, she is a big horse fan and is considering specializing in equine science. She is the daughter of Mary Brooks and the late Roland Brooks.
   Nico Alberti-Williams, 13, of Merced, took third place honors for his slogan, “Wild and Wooly.” It was the first time he entered the annual competition but he did participate in the 2006 logo design contest.
   “I am kind of surprised that I won,” the Hoover Middle School eighth grader said, adding, he felt good about his entry. “It was a fun slogan and I thought people would enjoy it.” Alberti-Williams is in Lancer’s 4-H Club and has shown rabbits at three fairs, taking home several ribbons for his efforts. He also plays tenor saxophone in the Hoover band. He is the son of Lynnie Alberti-Williams and the late Mark Williams.
   The second and third place winners will each receive a pair of season passes to the fair.
   Now that the 2008 fair has a slogan, the next step is to launch the search for a winning graphic. The fair is sponsoring a contest to come up with a logo that best illustrates the slogan. The deadline to submit entries is Wednesday, October 31 at 5 p.m.
   The top graphic designer wins $500, a pair of season passes to the fair, and the fun of seeing their winning design used to promote the fair on everything from billboards and posters to banners and T-shirts. The competition is open to Merced County residents only.
   “We had a great response to our slogan contest with 471 entries," said Robin Hauck, the fair’s CEO. "Now we’re challenging the community to start working on some really creative designs for our logo competition. We’re looking forward to seeing a lot of fun artwork that will rock as much as our new slogan does.”
   The fair’s board of directors will select the first, second and third place graphic design winners at their Monday, November 19 board meeting. The second and third place winners will each receive a pair of season passes to the fair.
   To enter the contest, artists may use any medium and submit a maximum of three entries on 8-1/2 by 11-inch paper. All entries become the Merced County Fair’s property and won’t be returned. The winning entry may be altered for marketing purposes. Entries may be submitted to the fairgrounds office, 900 Martin Luther King Jr. Way or mailed to the Merced County Fair, 900 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Merced, CA. 95341. Submissions should include the entrant’s name, address and telephone number. A story and photo of the logo winners will be published by the Fair. Information on the slogan contest is available online at the fair’s award-winning website, www.MercedCountyFair.com. For more information, call the fair office at 722-1507.

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