By Viveca Hanson, for The Bulletin Special ProjectsPhotos by Tess Freeman and Viveca Hanson

For Mike McIntosh, the annual Deschutes County Fair is not just a tradition, it is a way of life. His father was a teacher and his mom a 4-H leader as well as a fair association member and director. Born with a passion for horses, McIntosh became part of 4-H at an early age and showed his horses at the fair each year.

“I have been going to the fair for 55 years. I don’t remember ever missing a year,” he recalled. “It’s just in my blood.”

McIntosh, the Redmond School District superintendent, did not always know that he wanted to work in education.

“I started out at COCC with a degree in forestry,” he said, but soon found that it was not the right path for him. “I got frustrated with government and public policies.”

Deciding to go back to school, McIntosh earned a master’s degree in education from Eastern Oregon University, then Eastern Oregon State College. Since then, he has worked at schools not only in Central Oregon but around the state.

“I taught fifth grade in La Grande, then in Madras, became principal at M.A. Lynch Elementary here in Redmond, then Hugh Hartman and Elton Gregory,” McIntosh recounted.

He has been the superintendent in Redmond since 2012. According to McIntosh, there are similarities between his position as a teacher and his current position.

“It’s all about the kids,” he said. “While a teacher might have 30 kids in their classroom, I serve 7,500 kids.”

But the thing he loves most about his position is being an active part of the community and making a difference in the lives of local children.

A Redmond native, McIntosh was enrolled in the same public schools he oversees today. He is a perfect example to the children he serves, demonstrating that even in a small town, they are never too small to make their way up the ladder, as long as they put in the work and persevere.

When McIntosh is not working at the school district, he heads home to his ranch in Terrebonne, where he has six Percheron horses and six Belgian horses. These are the horses that he brings to the 4th of July Parade in Redmond each year, as well as the rodeo during the fair in August.

When McIntosh was eight, he saw a man at the fair who had a hitch of six “mammoth” horses. He was in awe of their size and strength compared to the horses his family had on their ranch. He spent a short time working for their owner, wanting nothing more than to have the same giant horses he’d first seen that day.

The entire McIntosh family is just as involved in the Deschutes County Fair and the family ranch as Mike is. His wife, Joanna, and their three children, Janelle, James, and Jacob, help with the daily duties that come with owning a ranch. His children were in 4-H when they were young and now help to care for the family’s two hitches of horses. They also assist with the many events that the teams attend each year.

As the Deschutes County Fair Grand Marshal, McIntosh has a number of duties to fulfill before and during the fair this year. He will represent Deschutes County Fair & Rodeo at the local fair parades, which include Sisters, Spray, Crooked River, and Redmond. He will also open the rodeo each night of the fair. As to why McIntosh was chosen to be the grand marshal, he reports that he “has no idea.” While he may not think his story is special, it is easy to see that his involvement in the Redmond community is a large contributing factor. According to Mike Schiel, a director of the fair association and fair board member, McIntosh was an easy choice for the position.

“It is because of his longevity,” says Schiel. “He and his family have been involved in Redmond for such a long time.”

And certainly, 55 years of perfect attendance make McIntosh the perfect choice to be the 2018 Deschutes County Fair Grand Marshal.