Fair Dedication

Gemma Ferguson for her years of support and dedication to the Eddy County Fair! Mrs. Gemma Ferguson and her sibling were born and raised in Carlsbad as part of a farming family. She graduated from Carlsbad High School, followed with an associate’s degree from NMSU-Carlsbad, and a bachelor’s degree from University of the Southwest in Hobbs. She continued her life in Carlsbad, where she raised her daughter Mary Lynn. Mrs. Ferguson served as the South representative on the Eddy County Fair Board from the early to late 1990’s as the treasurer, serving as a link between the fair board and Western Commerce Bank. Gemma was very instrumental in building funds for the fair goers by working with the businesses in the Carlsbad area. It was not an unusual occurrence to have individuals such as the Kincaid’s and Queen’s visiting her at the bank to chat about who had donated, who they needed to send letters to and chat with, and then who they needed to collect money from. Each year at the auction it was easy to find her sitting in about the 2nd row, center section, with her adding machine and list in hand, calculating what money they had spent and how much more they were excited to use. There is no doubt if one graduated in the 1990’s, was from Carlsbad down to Malaga, and sold an animal at the Eddy County Fair, Gemma may have been in the picture and helped purchase that animal. Today Mrs. Gemma Ferguson spends most of her time helping on different boards, such as the Carlsbad Foundation, Lion’s Club, and the United Way. She has served many roles in the county, from the County Assessor to the President of the Carlsbad Chapter of Commerce. But the one role that we hold near and dear to our hearts was her instrumental role with the Eddy County Fair.

Andrea grew up in 4-H in San Juan County where she was active in helping with her family’s farm and ranch raising sheep, cattle and racehorses. Andrea went on to pursue a Master’s Degree in Ag Education at New Mexico State University which led to her becoming the 4-H agent in Otero county prior to her marrying Warren and moving to Artesia.

It was shortly after her move to Artesia that she began volunteering at the Eddy County Fair. Andrea’s love of kids and livestock was always apparent as she served the fair as a volunteer helping with the sheep show until becoming a co-superintendent with Lex Klein. She and Warren have been the Booster Buckle donors for over 20 years in addition to donating buckles and banners for various species. Adrea also served as an Eddy County Fairboard member for several years. She may be best known for her creative talent painting the picture board every year. Fair goers and showers always looked forward to her theme for the new year!

In addition to her many hours spent directly helping at the fair, Adrea continued to raise show lambs from the herd she had growing up and supplied many show lambs to kids over the years so they could show them at county fairs across the state. She was always willing to give help, advice, and show tips to anyone who needed them. She furnished many kids with lead lambs as well for Ladie’s Lead. Many of the kids would return their lambs to her and they would go back into the herd to produce lambs the next year.

Andrea’s many contributions over the years to kids and families are hard to measure but Eddy County Fair was especially blessed to have her over 20 years. Today Andrea continues to be actively involved in the livestock industry raising show lambs as well as helping anyone who needs a hand.