File photo Wayne Proffitt at the fairgrounds, taken in 2005

By Barbara McRae>
mcrae@thefranklinpress.com

Wayne Proffitt, the man who epitomized the spirit of the Macon County Fair, died Monday at age 80.

Proffitt helped start the fair in 1953, and was closely associated with it for the rest of his life.

"He liked teaching and working with younger people, and he liked the fair," his longtime friend Tex Corbin said of him. "The fair combined all those. It made for a good scenario."

Corbin was a student of Proffitt's in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Later, they taught together for 28 years. "He was a wonderful person. He loved working for the kids," he said. "He was an asset to the community."

On Tuesday, black ribbons framed a sign welcoming people to the Wayne Proffitt Agricultural Center, as the fairgrounds are now known.

Linda Harbuck, who was on the grounds to plan a Chamber of Commerce event, commented that Proffitt was unusual in having influenced several generations of the same local families in the classroom.

Proffitt taught for a remarkable 43 years, and remained a member of the Macon County Fair Administration until his death.

"He was the only original member who was still active," Corbin said.

In a September 2005 interview with The Franklin Press, Proffitt recalled that, except for displays and educational exhibits, the fair was "just cattle" in 1953.

"They showed on the football field," Proffitt told interviewer King Quillen.

About 2,000 people attended that first county fair, and it grew larger year by year. Finally, in 1960, county commissioners deeded about nine acres of the former county home farm to the fair board, and the work of building the physical plant of the fairgrounds began.

The fair administration recognized Proffitt and his wife Kathleen for their "years of unfailing support and outstanding service" by dedicating the livestock complex to them on Sept. 16, 2000. Then, in 2007, the fairgrounds were renamed in his honor.

"He built the steer program and the pig program. It was about teaching kids responsibility," Macon County Commissioner Ronnie Beale said Tuesday. "We hope the things he established by himself will continue, that many of us working together can keep it going."

"The family lost a father, and the community lost a leader, even more so, a mentor," Beale said. "Mr. Proffitt was my teacher when I started as a freshman in 1960, and we kept that acquaintanceship going until his passing Monday. Every student would tell you that he had an influence on them as students, and even more as adults. Myself included."

Beale remembered Proffitt's quiet way of reaching his students. "We'd be doing something we definitely were not supposed to do, and he'd look at us and say, 'Boys...' and that was it."

Beale said he didn't know of anyone who had more of a positive impact on his students.

"It's a loss for the community for a lot of reasons, not to mention the years he spent building the fair," Beale said, pointing out that the highly regarded county fair is one of the few purely agricultural fairs remaining - and that is a testimony to Proffitt's vision.

In his 2005 interview, Proffitt said, "We want to keep this an agricultural fair. We don't want all the honky tonk and carnival and so on. We want to keep the money and the heritage in the county."

In addition to his teaching and his work with the fair, Proffitt was deeply interested in developing agricultural education. He was active in and a one-time president of the North Carolina Vocational Agricultural Teachers Association.

Proffitt was married to the former Kathleen King, who died in June 2008. The couple had two daughters, Gail Young of Franklin and Janet Waddell of Asheville.

A funeral service was held for Proffitt Wednesday at First Methodist Church; burial was in Woodlawn Cemetery. Memorials may be made to the Wayne Proffitt Agricultural Scholarship Fund, P.O. Box 446, Franklin, NC 28744.