Gov. Markell enjoys a day at the fair
Gov. Jack Markell took a break on Thursday. He put on a pair of sneakers and climbed on big farm equipment. He took on young farmers in a watermelon eating contest and tossed an egg with Miss Delaware.
So goes Governor's Day at the Delaware State Fair, an annual must-attend event for the state's chief executive — regardless of whether they're trolling for votes.
"I love doing this stuff," said Markell, a second-term Democrat who is prohibited by Delaware's Constitution from seeking another term in the governor's office.
"The fair is a joyful place," he said. "It's nice to be in a joyful place."
Well before the masses arrived to consume fried Oreos, play carnival games and ride the Ferris wheel, Markell's Day at the fair began at 9 a.m., with the dedication of a poultry barn on site.
He moved quickly to tour demonstrations prepared by Future Farmers of America participants at local schools, and on to the egg toss and watermelon eating contest with his partner, Miss Delaware, Brittany Lewis.
"This is what it's all about," Lewis said later about meeting Delawareans and touring the fairgrounds with Markell. "It's one of the most exciting parts about being Miss Delaware. It's definitely a break from the Miss America prep."
Lewis let the egg slip on the governor's fourth toss and the pair fell to Aubrie Jones, 15, and Devan Just, 16, of Delmar High School. "I didn't even know it was the governor," Just said when asked about toppling her more famous opponent.
In the nearby Dover Building on the fairgrounds, Ruth Potter, 80, of Magnolia, spoke to the governor about her prize-winning quilt. Potter, who learned to quilt with friends in a group they affectionately named "stitch and bitch," said the governor was impressed with her work on the queen-sized quilt, which took her "a few years" to complete.
"He congratulated me and said it was pretty amazing," Potter said.
Markell didn't skip all business while at the fair. He signed into law a measure that clarifies how many game birds Delaware hunters may legally possess and "removes archaic and irrelevant language relative to rabbit and muskrat possession."
The governor also joined Perdue chief executive Jim Perdue, and representatives from the DuPont Co.'s Pioneer seed unit, to announce that Perdue AgriBusiness would contract with Delaware farmers to produce 40,000 acres of soybeans that DuPont will use to produce its trans-fat free soybean oil.
That's up from 6,000 acres contracted to produce beans for DuPont's Plenish brand oil today.
"This state understands the importance of an agriculture economy," Perdue said during the announcement.
In his remarks, Markell praised Perdue, which has processing plants in Georgetown and Milford, where it produces organic chicken.
"Some people might think their headquarters is in Salisbury," Markell said. "But (Perdue) is a Delaware company. Perdue has more employees here than they do in that neighboring state."
Markell said Delawareans he met at the fair, like those he meets in his grocery store, were willing to walk up and express their thoughts about the job he's doing.
"This is the ultimate of sort of retail ... I wouldn't even call it politics," Markell said, noting he is not up for re-election. "People are just really straightforward about what's going well, what's not. It's great."
The governor was commended by at least two fair-goers for being willing to engage and listen.
Nick LaRussa and Roxanne Dvorak, who moved to Newark a few years back from Texas, met Markell on Thursday and said they were impressed that he was so accessible. "I love to meet politicians. And everybody here in Delaware is very approachable," Dvorak said.
Added LaRussa, "In Texas, they're in the car and gone. They really don't want to interact with the people."
Contact Jonathan Starkey at 983-6756, on Twitter @jwstarkey or at jstarkey@delawareonline.com.