Wachters donate $250,000 to fair project

Barb and Ron Wachter at the Fair Foundation Dinner.

Ron and Barb Wachter of Pullman donated $250,000 to the Palouse Empire Fair Foundation to help fund the remodeling of the community building which is now underway at the fairgrounds. The donation was announced at the foundation’s annual banquet and auction Sunday at the fairgrounds.

Ron Wachter in his short talk said Whitman County has been good to them over the years and the donation is a way of giving back. He encouraged others to help with the project.

“It’s really a heart donation,” Barb Wachter said this week. “It’s put in the right place.”

She noted the fair has been a big part of their lives since they moved here 52 years ago as a young couple from the Williamette Valley where they were both participants in a county fair very much like the Palouse Empire Fair.

“We wanted to do something that reflects our volunteer work and that of all of our friends,” Barb Wachter said. “We loved doing everything.”

Ron Wachter served several years as president of the Palouse Empire Fair Board, and Barb was a long-time coordinator of the fair’s royalty contest.

“He’s only missed one stock sale in the 52 years we have been here,” Barb Wachter commented. She noted Ron over the years worked behind the scenes to ensure that every junior stock participant made a sale.

Chad Startin, foundation president, said the Wachters were one of the driving forces in getting the project underway last summer. The project includes an addition to the community building, which was finished to the point where it could be displayed during this year’s fair. It also includes extensive remodeling of the community building which will be called the fair’s events center.

Startin, who at a fair board meeting this fall stressed the need for the foundation’s annual fund raiser Sunday to be a success in order bolster funds for the project, said the Wachters’ donation was a big boost.

“We’ll get it done, and we’ll get it all paid for,” Startin said.

The Wachters operate the Hilltop Restaurant and Hilltop Inn in Pullman. The Inn underwent extensive remodeling and expansion two years ago.

Ron Wachter, who started his ag career here with Palouse Producers, founded Nu Chem, which was based in Pullman, 35 years ago. The business, which includes storage facilities at Central Ferry, sold to Helena, but Wachter continues to head the business. Another Wachter business venture is their Porky’s Pit Barbecue.