Q&A; -- A view from atop the fair

There are pig races, wine tastings and big-name concerts. There is a

rodeo, a derby, crafts, quilts and crops. Clowns, jugglers, dancers,

singers . . . the list of people and events at the Orange County Fair

stretches on and on.

And the person tasked with overseeing it all is Becky Bailey-Findley,

a short-haired blond mother of three who spends the 17 days of the fair

working long hours and at night retires to the quiet of the nearby hotel

room she rents every year at this time.

Bailey-Findley spoke with Pilot Features Editor Jennifer K Mahal about

the challenges and fun of putting together the event that will bring

close to a million people to Costa Mesa in the coming days.

How did you become involved in the Orange County Fair?

We moved to Fullerton when I was about 5. My father started teaching

agriculture at Fullerton High School and then moved to Sunny Hills High

School in Fullerton. And at the same time, he became the livestock

supervisor here at the Orange County Fair.

So I started coming -- as you will see as you tour, you will see kids

in among the people setting up, and they are the children of either the

exhibitors or whatever -- but I was one of those kids. I ran around this

place a lot when I was a kid.

Then I joined 4-H, and when I was about 10, I started participating in

the programs that were offered here at the fair through 4-H.

I . . . started working part-time, fair-time only, when I graduated

from high school in 1972, and worked every summer here. Went to college

and got a couple of degrees, taught high school -- did other things, but

I always had the summers where I would come work at the fair.

In 1982, I stopped teaching, and I did some contract work for the

fair. At that point, they still didn’t have a lot of full-time employees,

maybe six or seven in the early ‘80s. So I did a lot of part-time

contract work for them. We started Youth Expo, which is our youth fair in

the spring, and I was very involved in that. . . . Then I went full time

working at Phoenix House (a residential treatment facility) for about

four years and then came full time here in 1986. Finally at that point

they had added some full-time positions that were attractive. And what I

started back doing was the contests and the competitions. I was the

exhibit supervisor. And that’s how I entered back in the fair.

How long does it take to prepare for these 17 days?

You know, we used to say that we would start in August for the next

July, but we’re really now, we’re probably 18 months out. Some of our

planning and work, we’ll start that soon. Of course, not all the details,

but you have to have some things in place so that you can solicit

sponsorships and can try and bring in partners for the following years.

So, I’d say now we’re at about 18 months.

There have been problems in the distant past with fair workers and

rides. What steps has the fair taken to ensure the safety and well-being

of fairgoers?

I think one of the most significant changes that happened with the

fair in terms of safety was RCS -- Ray Cammack Shows carnival -- came to

us in the early ‘90s. And their standards of how they treat their

employees and what they do to train them and the preventive steps that

they take, such as mandatory drug testing, and we also do the Megan’s Law

on all of our employees, not just the carnival workers. The fair hires,

as well, an independent safety company who inspect the rides daily, and

they’re also inspected by Cal-OSHA. And then the rides are also highly

supervised by the workers and sometimes shut down if they notice

something, then they’ll bring a safety team in to inspect. Our safety

company also inspects the fairgrounds, because it isn’t just the carnival

where you have potential problems.

What is the best part of the fair for you?

Of course, this week, all we can hardly wait for is when will the food

stands open up. We’re just like everyone else. You know one day,

Wellmon’s, the grinder sandwich stand, opened early and we just -- wooosh

-- ran over there. And yesterday Rose’s Mexican stand opened early, so we

can hardly wait today to see what opens early.

The fair to me is a huge -- it’s a bringing together of diversity and

it’s a lot of different types of diversity. It’s ages, young and old.

It’s people from different economic levels, people from different parts

of the nation. It’s people from different parts of the world, different

ethnicities, different cultures -- and I don’t mean just ethnic cultures.

There’s a culture that follows Speedway races. There’s a culture that

follows rodeo. There’s a culture that are many of the people who sell

things here -- we call them pitchmen. That’s a culture. It’s a certain

type of people, and it is so fun for me to watch all those people come

together.

Once the fair is up and running, then I just like standing out there

and watching people interact and do the things that we’ve planned for

them to do and have a good time with it.

What’s the biggest challenge you have in overseeing all of this

being put together?

Well, the biggest challenge is also the greatest joy. The biggest

challenge is bringing all that diversity together and then making sure

everyone gets along.

And it’s a coordination not only of people then, it’s a coordination

of details. You can’t move a piece of equipment without it having a

ripple effect and so, it’s not only training staff to deal with that, but

then we have all these outside contractors that come in. And how do you

get them to make sure and say, ‘Hey look, we’ve got to follow a certain

plan with this so you can get your job done, but you’re not adversely

affecting someone else.’

What is your favorite fair food?

Tasti Chips. I love Tasti Chips. They’re way down on Livestock Lane,

and they’re fresh potato chips. They’re thinly sliced potato slices, deep

fried, of course. I’m surprised I don’t have a child that looks like a

Tasti Chip.

Bio Box

Becky Bailey-Findley

Age: 47

Birthplace: Corona

Residence: Anaheim Hills

Job: General manager of the Orange County Fair and Exposition Center

Family: Husband of 26 years and three children -- two daughters and a

son

Miscellaneous: Once raised sheep and cattle. Her son, 19, is dyeing

his hair green to reflect the fair’s citrus theme (green for lime).