Fargo New Ill Bureau Chief

Charlyn Fargo is the new bureau chief in the Illinois Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of County Fairs and Horse Racing. She was appointed to the post by Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich to replace Tex Moats, who resigned late last year.

Ms Fargo, 50, comes to her new job from the State Journal-Register in Springfield where she was the agriculture writer for 27 years. A native of the Springfield area, she grew up on a farm and showed cattle at county fairs and the state fair.

“My first job was running the press room at the Illinois State Fair,” said Fargo, who graduated from the University of Illinois with bachelors degrees in agriculture communications and food. She later earned a masters degree from Eastern Illinois University and also wrote a syndicated nutrition column while at the Journal-Register.

In her new job Fargo said she hopes “to be a force to unify the industry; kind of be the focal point where we can find some common ground. I’m there to facilitate making this industry thrive.”

The World Trotting Derby and its format change to one dash is among Fargo’s top projects for 2007.
“That is one thing we’re really, really promoting,” Fargo said. “We’re hoping to bring in some of the big boys from out east. This is our opportunity to really put Illinois on the map and I hope we can really attract the top notch racers to come to that. I’m taking that as my project.”

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