Governor Jerry Brown made the following appointments earlier this month to the 38th District Agricultural Association, Stanislaus County Fair Board:
• Harinder Grewal, 47, of Keyes: Grewal has been senior agricultural weights and measures inspector at the Stanislaus County Agricultural Commissioner's Office since 2003. He was executive manager at QS Market and Property Management from 1996 to 2002 and owner of American Superior Production from 1991 to 1996.
Grewal is a trustee for the Turlock Unified School District, a member of the Keyes Municipal Advisory Council and a member of the Modesto City Equal Opportunity/Disability Commission. Grewal previously served as director of the Keyes Community Services District, president at the California Association of Standards and Agricultural Professionals and treasurer at the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 10.
Grewal earned a Master of Science degree in agricultural economics and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in economics from Guru Nanak Dev University in India and a Master of Business Administration degree from California State University, Stanislaus.
Grewal said he looks forward to working with the other fair board members to provide the best fair possible for the county. With recent cuts in fair funding from the state, Grewal said he hopes to look at outreach as a way to make up for lost resources.
"I strongly believe in outreach; reaching out to all community partners to find a way for the fair board and other organizations to work together for the benefit of both."
• Manuel "Ray" Souza Jr., 65, of Turlock: Souza has been a fair board member since 1996. He has been the owner of Mel-Delin Dairy since 1984. Souza is a member of the Western United Dairymen, District 5 board of directors and the Stanislaus County Farm Bureau.
• Ruben Villalobos, 38, of Modesto: Villalobos has been a partner at the Villalobos 2 Legal Group since 2002. He was assistant federal public defender at the Federal Public Defender Office, District of Nevada from 2000 to 2002 and deputy public defender at the Stanislaus County Public Defender Office from 1999 to 2000.
Villalobos serves on the Modesto City Schools Board and is a member of the Doctors Medical Center board of directors, Modesto Chamber of Commerce board of directors and the Latino Community Roundtable. Villalobos earned a Juris Doctorate degree from the University of California, Davis School of Law.
• Linda Weidman, 62, of Hickman: Weidman has been a fair board member since 2001. She was a criminal investigator at the Stanislaus County District Attorney's Office from 1987 to 2002 and a deputy sheriff at the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department from 1972 to 1987.
Weidman is a member of the Stanislaus Wildlife Care Center board of directors and Stanislaus County Farm Bureau.