Moscow Renaissance Fair vets ascend to royalty

For years, she served the Moscow Renaissance Fair as its “Queen of the Sandbox.”

This year, Leeanne Noble was bestowed a higher honor.

Noble is joining her husband, Tom Preston, as the queen and king of the annual Ren Fair taking place at East City Park on Saturday and Sunday.

The Moscow couple have been longtime Ren Fair enthusiasts. Noble has lived in Moscow since 1984 and has only missed two Ren Fairs in the past 39 years. This year, the couple will have the distinction of being royalty during the event’s 50th anniversary.

“We’ve told everybody we know to come out and help celebrate the 50th and make it extra special,” Noble said.

Noble earned the “Queen of the Sandbox” label when she made it her duty to make the fair a little more entertaining for the younger attendees. Noble said she used to be disappointed with the lack of fun activities available in the sandy patches of the park where the small children would play. She wanted to see more than just a couple of shovels available for the youngsters.

“I’d think, ‘Boy, someone needs to do something about that, that’s like a missed opportunity,’ ” she said.

So she took over the sand volleyball court and brought pots, pans, hula hoops, bubbles and other toys for the children to enjoy while sporting her own pink hat.

“They needed more fun stuff,” she said.

During this year’s Ren Fair, she and Preston will have the distinguished honor of leading the opening ceremony, judging the costume contests and leading the parades. They may have their dog Radar – the Ren Fair prince – with them.

Preston is a political science professor at Washington State University and a local singer-songwriter. Noble is a longtime educator who started the Gold Mountain Community School for children in 2012.

The couple said they love the fair’s sense of community. Even people who move away from Moscow come back to the fair.

“It’s a reunion of sorts,” she said.

It’s not the only community event that Preston is involved with. He served as president of Moscow’s annual Rendezvous in the Park for 10 years.

Yet even that event can’t compare with the longevity of the Ren Fair.

“It’s one of those events that helps to make the community special because a lot of places don’t have an event like this, and this one has been going for 50 years,” Preston said.

This weekend they are hoping many people will not only visit the event, but will show up in costume. The king and queen are excited to meet their loyal subjects.

“It’s a big honor,” Noble said.