West Allis — When Rick Frenette was 12 years old in the early 1960s, he was running the hot dog-on-a-stick stand at the Northern Wisconsin State Fair for his father in his hometown of Chippewa Falls.
Frenette is running the show now as the executive director of the Wisconsin State Fair.
"My dad made me do 15-hour days, and I learned about the work ethic of the fair," he said in an interview Thursday at his office at the Tommy Thompson Youth Center. "He brought me out of the stands and I learned about parking, ticket sales, and entertainment. That's where I learned about the fair business."
As the former head of the Utah State Fair, he was happy in Salt Lake City. But there's no place like home.
"This is the only job I would have left Utah for," he said.
Frenette, 57, takes command as the fair's executive director at a particularly challenging time. While the fair drew more than 833,000 people last year, it is managing a $4.7 million deficit.
Its signature attraction, the Milwaukee Mile, will largely be quiet this year. There will be no major racing this year because the State Fair Park Board could not reach agreement with a promoter to run it.
At the same time, the State Fair Park Board now runs the Expo Center at the fairgrounds, and there will be pressure to find new business to rent the building for events.
Frenette also concedes that capital improvements need to be made to the fairground
via www.jsonline.com
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