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J. H. Martin began his career in
fairs & festivals at the top as a Charter Director and Chairman of
the first Greater Baton Rouge State Fair in 1965 when it was a
project of the Baton Rouge Jaycees, an organization he joined in
1964. He was active in the GBRSF until 1974 when he reached the
maximum Jaycee age of 36 and was forced out of the sponsoring
organization. In 1985, he returned to the fair as President of the
private fair foundation, which took over the GBRSF.
He has never looked back as he led
(along with a great group of volunteers) the Foundation to:
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Pay off the $850,000 debt accumulated by the fair,
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Provide Worthy Cause
grants of over $2,300,000 since 1987 to hundreds of worthy
causes and has put enough money in the bank to cover a "bad
fair year" (if it ever happened), and
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Turn a once-floundering
fair into a successful small business, managed and run by
all volunteers, with an annual economic impact of over $1
1/2 million
During this time, J. H. has earned
the Certified Fair Executive (CFE) designation from the
International Association of Fairs & Exhibitions (IAFE) in 1992,
received the American Heritage Award presented by the IAFE for
Outstanding Volunteer Fair Managers in 1994 and has written several
articles for the IAFE monthly publication on the subjects of
Volunteerism--Coupons--Attendance numbers.
J. H. was active in the Louisiana
Association of Fairs & Festivals from 1966 to 1975. Returning in
1985, he became a dynamic leader and was elected to the Board of
Directors in 1988, Vice-President in 1991 and President in 1992.
Serving as President of L.A.F.F., J.H. led the move to update the
association by-laws and voting procedures.
While accomplishing this and more;
J. H. has remained a senior sales person at his real job at Franklin
Press., in Baton Rouge, an industry he has "been involved in" since
he was nine years old. J.H. and his wife, Pat, have three children
and seven grandchildren and live in Baton Rouge. |
