How far in advance do you start preparing for each one?
The 2008 fair is basically ready to be publicized. All the attractions are booked; all the vendors are in. The 2008 fair is ready to roll. So now we can turn our attention to 2009. We try to put each fair on about an 18-month planning cycle, which means, for about six months, you’re planning two fairs at the same time.
Tell us about your first days at the fair. I understand your job was pushing a broom.
My first day of my first job, I was handed a sweeper and a pan and told to sweep up the trash in the main mall.
The second half of my first day, my supervisor handed me a shovel and said, “The parade starts in front of the grandstand arena. Report to the back of the parade.” So it was an illustrious beginning.
Did you know back then that you wanted to work in the fair business?
I remember being bitten by the bug, but that didn’t translate into any career goals. I felt the energy of the fair, and that was contagious, but I didn’t plan a career at the fair. That just kind of happened to me.
Did you return to the fair every year after that?
Yes, and that’s been 33 years.
In an interview, Becky once told us the 1970s were the years the fair really came into its own as an attraction — when the owners brought in big-name entertainers and started pushing to compete with Disneyland and Knott’s Berry Farm. What are your memories of the fair around that time?
The fair, traditionally, had been about exhibits. Exhibits are the core of the fair, so that’s been present since the beginning in 1890.
