‘I knew he would be a keeper’
Fair fact: Barbie and Larry Berber are the only couple who have been hitched at the fair … so far. They were married in 1998 in the old sheep tent near Gate 1.
Days til fair: 184
Weather: Sun!
Kids having fun at the fair. Photo by Meryl Schenker
All’s fair
No matter your age, there’s plenty of romance at the fair. Here’s a sweet story excerpted from “100 Years at the Northwest Washington Fair”:
For many, the fair was a first date that led to marriage.
A 1942 Meridian High School graduate, Arlene Orlund of Bellingham remembers meeting her late husband, Virg, at the fair on Sept. 18, 1939. Back then, kids were released from school and bused to the fair, she says. “When we got off the bus, here he was standing with his friends from Ferndale High School.”
The couple dated for three years before Virg left for the U.S. Army. “We went skating all the time in Ferndale at the old skating rink. It was 35 cents,” recalls Orlund. “I knew he would be a ‘keeper.’”
On Feb. 25, 1944, during one of his leaves from the Army, they were married in Bellingham. The couple raised two daughters, four grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren.
They were married for 62 years and went to the fair every year except when Virg was in the U.S. Army from 1944 to 1946, until his death in 2006.
“We looked at everything,” Orlund remembers. “We just always had a good time.”
See you at the fair!
Sarah Eden Wallace
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