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FORECAST. AND THANK YOU. WE HAVE TEAM COVERAGE THIS EVENING OF THE IOWA STATE FAIR. FUN. ����vlog’S NICOLE TAM IS FOLLOWING SOME OF THE DAY’S BIGGEST CONTESTS AND FAIR STAPLES, BUT WE WANT TO START WITH ����vlog, BEAU BOWMAN, AND BO. YOU SAT DOWN WITH FAIR CEO JEREMY PARSONS, AND THIS IS HIS THIRD YEAR ON THE JOB. AND BOY DOES HE HAVE A LOT OF. RESPONSIBILITY. YEAH, JODI AND IT’S ALWAYS BEEN HIS DREAM JOB SINCE HE WAS A LITTLE KID AND FORMER FAIR CEO MARION LUCAS PLAYED A BIG PART IN GETTING HIM TO THIS SPOT. IT’LL BE TO YOUR LEFT. YEP, YEP. ENJOY. STATE FAIR CEO IS THE JOB THAT NEVER STOPS WITH THE FAMILY ENJOYING. BUT IT’S THE JOB THAT JEREMY PARSONS HAS ALWAYS WANTED TO HAVE. IT GOES ALL THE WAY BACK TO ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. PARSONS WROTE THEN CEO MARION LUCAS A LETTER ASKING HIM HOW HE COULD ONE DAY HAVE HIS JOB. THAT LETTER REALLY LED TO, YOU KNOW, COMING UP HERE TO DES MOINES AND MEETING HIM. AND THEN REALLY, HE JUST KEPT THE DOOR OPEN. THE TWO KEPT IN CONTACT THROUGH THE 90S UNTIL PARSONS WAS OLD ENOUGH TO WORK AND THEN GOT A JOB WORKING UNDER LUCAS AT THE STATE FAIR. FAST FORWARD FROM ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, THEN TO HIGH SCHOOL, AND I STARTED WORKING HERE AND AND REALLY LEARNING FROM HIM, YOU KNOW, THROUGH HIGH SCHOOL AND COLLEGE. AND I MEAN, TRULY, I’M HERE TODAY REALLY BECAUSE OF HIM. LUCAS WAS KNOWN FOR HIS COMMITMENT TO ALWAYS PUTTING THE FAIRGOERS FIRST. ATTENDANCE DOUBLED DURING HIS TENURE, AND TODAY YOU CAN SEE TRIBUTES TO LUCAS IN THE ADMINISTRATION BUILDING AND IN THE STATE FAIR MUSEUM. AND HE’S CREDITED WITH THE CREATION OF THE BLUE RIBBON FOUNDATION, THE FAIRGROUNDS WE ENJOY TODAY. WHILE GARY SLATER DEFINITELY BUILT ON THAT FOUNDATION DURING HIS 20 YEARS, MARION WAS THE CEO THAT THAT STARTED THE BLUE RIBBON FOUNDATION. AND, YOU KNOW, PAELLA PLAZA, THE INITIAL RENOVATION OF THIS BUILDING, YOU KNOW, THOSE WERE ALL INITIAL PROJECTS OF THE FOUNDATION. AND, YOU KNOW, THAT WAS ALL BECAUSE OF MARION. LUCAS DIED THIS YEAR AFTER A MULTI-YEAR BATTLE WITH DEMENTIA. IT’S JUST A COOL PLACE. BUT PARSONS IS COMMITTED TO KEEPING HIS LEGACY ALIVE. JUST AS GARY SLATER DID DURING HIS TIME IN CHARGE. I THINK HE’S ENJOYING IT, TOO. YEAH, AND YOU DON’T HAVE TO LOOK FAR AROUND THE FAIRGROUNDS. HE WOULD ALWAYS SAY, REMEMBER THE FAIR GOER AND REMEMBER YOUR STAFF. YOU KNOW, WHATEVER YOU CAN DO TO FOCUS ON THOSE TWO THINGS AND YOU DEFINITELY WON’T GO WRONG. AND IF YOU REALLY LOOK AT SOME OF THE FEW BIG PROJECTS THAT JEREMY HAS UNDERTAKEN HERE IN HIS FIRST FEW YEARS AS FAIR CEO, YOU CAN SEE THAT MARION HAD A HUGE IMPACT ON HIS MANAGEMENT STYLE AND EVERYONE AT THE FAIR HERE MISSES HIM DEARLY. WE’RE LIVE AT THE IOWA STATE FAIR BEA