OC Fair leader to step down

Becky Bailey-Findley didn’t watch the first American walk on the moon in 1969 — but she remembers exactly where she was at that historic moment.

The future chief executive of the OC Fair was in the youth building at the fairgrounds, giving a demonstration on how to lead a group song. There wasn’t much of a group to speak of, but Bailey-Findley had a job to do, and so she found herself onstage while residents around town gaped at their televisions back home.

“There was not a soul on the fairgrounds,” Bailey-Findley said. “Everyone was watching television. I was giving a demonstration to a very empty room. I think I was there, and then the woman who unlocked the building.”

Throughout the next four decades, Bailey-Findley showed her dedication to the fair in more ways than one.

The Orange County native started working part-time at the fair in 1972, the summer after she graduated from high school, and returned as a staff member in the mid-1980s.

In 1994, she took over as the fair’s chief executive — a title that she will finally relinquish after this year’s fair when she steps down in August.

The fair’s board of directors is expected to announce Bailey-Findley’s replacement at its meeting this morning. After this summer, the Anaheim Hills resident plans to travel around the world to visit her grown children, and while she’s content to move on, she’ll miss the excitement that’s been a part of her life for more than 20 summers in a row.

“I truly enjoy seeing the people come and enjoy themselves,” Bailey-Findley said. “I enjoy the community connection aspect of the fair. So, for me, the fair is like a huge family get-together — a huge family reunion, if you will. I feel like I’m inviting people over to my house, and I truly enjoy that.”

The OC Fair has changed and sometimes thrived under Bailey-Findley’s leadership, posting record attendance numbers in 2005 when more than one million people passed through the gates, then shattering that record again in 2007. David Ellis, a member of the fair’s board of directors, said Bailey-Findley had helped to unite a diverse city.

“Before Becky became CEO, I lived in Costa Mesa, and we were always fighting with our neighbors,” he said. “Now, everyone seems to get along. It’s just a wonderful little gem for Orange County.”

Mayor Pro Tem Allan Mansoor said the fair not only gave Costa Mesa an economic boost, but also helped make it a cultural destination.

“The fair has always been top-notch, and that’s certainly a reflection of Becky and her staff,” he said.

Bailey-Findley, for her part, said some parts of fair life would be easier to part with than others.

“I really do love the fair food,” she said. “I’m going to have to figure out a way to get my fix.”

MICHAEL MILLER may be reached at (714) 966-4617 or at michael.miller@latimes.com.