All’s Fair

August is nigh, and a great summer tradition is rising out of the ground yet again for a brief but flashy spell, as hundreds work feverishly to create that little Brigadoon called the Ventura County Fair.

It won’t be long before corn dogs replace the smell of wet paint at Seaside Park, home of the fair. In just two weeks, the din of hammers from today’s construction work will give way to carnival barkers and the hydraulic sighs of the Tilt-a-Whirl.

But Tuesday, the noises came from those bringing the virtual city to life. “It’s really starting to hum,” said maintenance worker Chuck Jessup, driving a green golf cart around the grounds.

Men climbed and dangled from the metal bars of a giant jungle gym as they pieced together what would become the grandstand.

Others painted the entrance gates and detailed the lettering on signs. There were decorative bricks to be laid and landscaping to be completed.

“It’s a beehive,” said fair publicist Teri Raley. “You can feel the energy as all the activity builds to a crescendo.”

More than 100 part-time and 50 full-time workers, along with several hundred volunteers, are busy getting the fairgrounds ready for the Aug. 5 opening.

Ticket sales for rides have already begun. Fair-goers can purchase 20 rides for $20 through Aug. 4 at the Seaside Park offices.

In sprucing up the fairgrounds this year, Raley said the biggest improvements were an effort to repaint all the buildings and an $800,000 electrical project, which cleared old utility poles and put all the power lines underground.

“The wires used to make things seem so cluttered; now it looks so much more open,” she said.

The paint job was a big deal, too.

“We went from a 1970s tan-with-brown trim to a wonderful rose color--they’re calling it salmon,” she said. “It looks so much fresher. It’s amazing what a coat of paint can do.”

Jon LeBlanc is one of five full-time painters who have spent the last three weeks slathering rose paint over 10 buildings. The white trim, however, gives him pause.

“In my professional opinion, while this is a nice color and tone, white is the wrong color for this area,” he said. “Being so close to the beach, all the dirt and sand flying around will make it hard to keep clean.”

Raley worried about that, too.

“It looks wonderful; we just hope it will stay that way,” she said.

At the grandstand, six men worked three days to assemble a maze of metal support bars.

“We do it monkey-style,” said Fernando Rodriguez, as he balanced against crisscrossing poles high in the air, lifting the next piece of the puzzle into place. “This is good exercise. Heavy work for heavy-duty guys.”

Arturo Gomaz--who said he was afraid of heights--stayed on the ground, handing the pieces to the men hanging above him while organizing the piles of poles and brackets.

Maintenance worker Jessup is the fair’s main delivery man. He makes sure all the needed supplies get to the carpenters, electricians and mechanics.

“I’m usually in a pickup, on the run from L.A. to Santa Barbara,” he said. “From coffee to bolts, I go get it and bring it back.”