25 Years

Well, another fair has come and gone. 25 of them for me. Started in 1983 by helping out Dan Fortner and Jim White. I have seen a lot of changes in this time. Most of them for the good. I have made a lot of friends and lost a few at the fair. Met my wife working at the fair, 22 years ago. My mom even worked the fair for a few years before she passed away. She sat at Gate 8 everyday from 8am to 12pm.

The fair is a fun place to work. It is not about the money, but seeing people, having fun and making new friends. I am able to keep up with old friends from high school. Some people I met at the fair and only see them during the fair.

Gate 1 used to be a drive-in gate. Right down in front of the barns and to the parking lot. You could also park in side Gate 2 along the fence. Gate 5 has been moved twice since I have been there. The old gate five is not open anymore. The next Gate 5 is now the exit and the new Gate 5 is Smith Street. Gate 9 and 10 have been added. We only went to 8.

For new comers or younger folks, there was a ½ mile asphalt racetrack and grandstand where the E-Plex, new grandstand and parking lot now stand. There is a light pole still standing in the parking lot on the east side of the E-Plex that was the entrance to turn 1.

The Pit Stop (charbroil stand) use to be open 24 hours. Best place to get a burger and fries as well as biscuits and gravy in the morning.

I spent the first 23 years parking cars, taking tickets, barriers, supervision, basically anything that needed to be done. Gate 7 was my favorite, except for the year at Gate 1 where I met Sam. The last two years have been spent working the Grandstand and backstage area. This is even more fun than working the parking lots and taking tickets. Each day brings new and different people. Some of the artists are fun and some are not so fun. Some you never see until show time and then they are gone. To bad for them, they do not know what they are missing. So far, Blake Shelton and Craig Morgan have been the best to work with. Blake spent 2 days with us. On the second day when they stepped off the bus said "we are heading to Rudy’s for slaw dogs, we’ll be back".

Of course, there is no way I could make the backstage work without my team. Sam, Hillen, Rog, Lotz, the Rog boys, Burch and the Hall boys. This year we added Lightning McQueen. Plus all of the gang that ushers in the grandstand each night. Thank you for all your help.

I do not know if I will make it another 25 years, but I will try...