This Oregon Couple Went to the Great American State Fair in DC, Voluntarily Helped Man Their State's Empty Booth, and Was Awed by What They Experienced

Aimee Herd : Jul 2, 2026
Breaking Christian News

A revival was what we saw the past couple days; this is a revival of America.

[Breaking Christian News] It's been about a week since the Great American State Fair (GASF) began on the National Mall in Washington, DC. (Image: Courtesy-Derek LeBlanc)

As well as other attractions such as a main stage with entertainment, the giant Ferris Wheel and the World Cup Fan Zone, there are booths for every state in the US, however, not every state is being represented there. Some governors decided not to participate, Oregon's governor is one of them.

I spoke with Derek LeBlanc and Carlin Reents, two Oregonians who are attending the GASF, and have decided to sporadically man their state's booth as volunteers, telling visitors all about the beautiful Pacific Northwest.

BCN: Derek, tell me a little bit about yourself:

Derek: I am from Eugene, all my life I've lived here, and so I'm a proud Oregonian. I'm almost 50 years old, and I just felt like we had to maybe shine a different light on what's happening here. It's a very beautiful state. We wanted to change the way the other part of the country looks at Oregonians.

BCN: You mentioned to me that going to the Great American State Fair in DC was "because of God." Can you explain what you mean by that?

Derek: I've been sober for about 16 years from alcohol and so I'd never really embraced my faith the way I should have, until I met my beautiful girlfriend, Carlin who's here with me. I ended up getting baptized in May, and I see a change in my life. I used to be afraid to talk about my faith, but I'm not doing that any longer. I'm gonna be bold and I'm going to be proud to be a follower of Christ, and to let other people know the changes that have been in my life, so they can have these changes too, if they accept Christ as their Savior.

BCN: That's fantastic! Were you surprised when you heard that Governor Kotek was refusing to send a delegation to represent Oregon at the Great American State Fair?

Derek: To be honest with you, I was very angry. Because what it does is it interjects her politics into what's something that could be really great for our state, and that's promoting tourism,  promoting all of the great agricultural products, the manufacturing products, and the different outdoor sports that people can partake in. Our state desperately needs tourism. We have a budget shortfall in every part of the Oregon government and if you're spending the money to invest in having somebody here at a booth to promote tourism, this is something you can actually get a return on. (Image: Courtesy-Derek LeBlanc)

Carlin: We had already made our plans to come to DC, we're actually here on vacation. To answer your question, no we're not surprised because [Gov. Kotek] makes it all political instead of bringing us together in unity and celebrating America's birthday, making it about America. We all know why, so we were not surprised but it's just it's sad. We love our state and it's not really fair that she's making that decision for us. We love Oregon, and we wanted to talk to people about it.

BCN: That booth could have been beautiful, and dressed up with scenes from Oregon and just enticing people to come to this state. She missed such an opportunity.

Derek: That's how we feel. We're playing tourists, we're not spending as much time as we should be [in the booth] but when we're on the mall, we're inside there. We're greeting folks we're talking about the winery industry, we're talking about the beaches, the mountains, hiking, the water, the climate, all of these things that make Oregon. This is not a partisan issue for me, this is me as an Oregonian. I have people from all over the world now that are like, "Wow I didn't I didn't know that, maybe I will come to your state!" That's all it takes is having a presence here. There are states here, like Mississippi, they have 50 state employees here for an entire month, because they know how much tourism dollars are going to be generated from this event. That is an investment by Mississippi in their tourism and so they are going to get the dividends from that. As an Oregonian, I want my state to benefit just like that, but unfortunately the governor is not part of this conversation, so proud Oregonians will pick up that microphone and do the work that needs to be done. (Image: Courtesy-Derek LeBlanc)

BCN: So, as you arrived, and have walked around, what have been your impressions of the Great American State Fair? Is this your first time in DC?

Carlin: It wasn't his first time, but it was my first time in DC, and I thought it was really beautiful. I noticed that there wasn't trash on the ground, and that we felt pretty safe. In general, people were respectful, celebrating our country. You see a lot of American flags, it was it was well done. They had the Faith and Freedom theme for the day yesterday, so we really enjoyed getting a surprise concert from Chris Tomlin. It was beautiful to see families on the lawn just enjoying it. We got to see the Washington Monument, it was just breathtaking, it's beautiful.

Derek: For me, as soon as we parked our vehicle, we rounded the turn on foot and saw the mall. I saw the Washington Monument, and felt this tremendous pride for my country. We don't know anybody's background we don't know what walk of life they come from, but they are coming here to see the spectacle of what it is to be an American.  I am so proud to be an American, I'm so proud to be an Oregonian ... it was powerful. I'm getting kind of choked up talking about it. A revival was what we saw the past couple days; this is a revival of America. America is back, God is at the forefront for once. We need to come together as Americans to know that this is one nation that is under God.  That's why we're here, we're here to celebrate it and I can't wait for the 4th of July!

BCN: Oregon isn't the only state whose governor isn't participating, have you seen others stepping up for their states, and manning their booths as you have?

Derek: I've heard Massachusetts doing something similar. We share space with Washington. Both Oregon and Washington are MIA. So, we kind of stepped in to help people from Washington. This is our opportunity to show some love to our neighbors to the north because we're in this together. We look at California, Oregon, Washington, you know they're the way they're being governed isn't by the will of the people, it's very radicalized, we could say godless. But, all of us coming to celebrate our country at the mall, we don't need the [disparaging] rhetoric. The only rhetoric that we need is: "We the People" and "America 250" that's the only rhetoric that we need.  

I'm learning so much about our capital, the founding of our country, this is something that's really important to me. We took a tour yesterday, at the capitol through a Democrat congresswoman, her staff gave us the tour of the inside of the capital. It was fabulous!

BCN: What would you say to someone who is considering going to the Great American State Fair while it runs (till July 10th), but they haven't really decided yet?

Derek:  I would say come, this is a first class event put on by an organization that's not related to the president, this is a nonpartisan group Freedom250.org. It's America first. Obviously we have a president in the White House that loves our country, loves his faith. I would encourage people to come to this event, and if they're Oregonians come to the booth, spend some time talking about Oregon, and tell the rest of the country the truth about our state. Everybody knows about Oregon from all the crazy stuff they see on the news, and that's not reality, that's not what Oregon is. And so if I could talk to a person that's on the fence that has the means to do it, I would say come, because it's an event you'll never regret. This is 250, this is something that we will never ever celebrate another time in our life: the 250th anniversary of the founding of our country. I'm getting goosebumps just talking about it because that's how proud I am and that's how well done this event is. It's been completely free to us, they give us bottled water so everybody can stay hydrated, there's booths that are in AC so if you get too hot you can get out of the weather. I mean ... just the family there, kids of all ages ... I'll treasure this forever. (Image: Courtesy-Derek LeBlanc) Subscribe for free to Breaking Christian News here