County Fair Manager Is Calm Before the Swarm of Opening Day

For one of the busiest people in Ventura County these days, Roger Gibbs has the demeanor of a Zen master.

As the head honcho of the Ventura County Fair, he has pulled together one of the biggest annual events in the county.

But barely 24 hours before he will begin trying to show 250,000 visitors a good time, he looked completely calm.

He even seemed to be enjoying it all.

“This is like my little city--I love it, it’s fun,” said a smiling Gibbs, 55, of the 62-acre Seaside Park event that he took charge of last year. “It’s like trying to fit 1,000 square pieces into 1,600 round holes.”

Gibbs was intense but jovial Tuesday as he drove his golf cart around the grounds in preparation for the fair’s opening at 11 a.m. today. Waving to staff members and shaking hands with volunteers, the tanned, silver-haired grandfather was quick with encouragement, direction and advice to some of the 2,000 people working to clean, cook, set up, operate machines and judge contests at the 12-day fair.

In the carnival area, ride operators are scrambling to assemble their brightly colored rides. Vendors organize their wares, and those entering agriculture competitions have their zucchini and rabbits and azaleas primed and ready to go.

Gibbs notices every detail. So far, so good, he said. No major glitches.

Yet. There are always the little things.

On Monday, a vendor with a 15-foot booth struggled with his 14-foot space. Gibbs got a call.

The lights in the floriculture booth needed adjusting. Gibbs got a call.

The events services manager wanted to meet with him to make sure everything behind the scenes at the music stage gets ironed out early--just in case. Last year, one major music group wouldn’t go on stage unless its road crew received free tickets to carnival rides. Another year, a group insisted on a specific brand of condom in their trailer.

Gibbs gets the calls.

“For seven or eight months, we were in proactive mode,” he said. “Now you just fix things.”

Overseeing 10 department heads, 45 full-time employees, about 800 part-time workers and about 1,000 volunteers, Gibbs could easily be overwhelmed. Last-minute preparations are needed on everything from the chili cook-off to the military craft show to the Indian fry bread booth.

But his secret, he said, is letting go of most details: “You hire good people and you back up and let them do their jobs.” It’s also about knowing which problems to tackle.

He will ask guests or employees to remove a T-shirt that bears an offensive message. He has been known to adjust landscaping that’s not quite right, said Devlin Raley, publicist for the fair.

Barry Wittenberg, who has sold grilled corn at the fair for 10 years, said, “One reason this fair works is the management. Roger seems to let his crew do their jobs.”

Gibbs drove through the equestrian center, the youth expo and the row of food vendors and discussed how to keep track of the $2 million or so that the fair takes in--an amount roughly equal to what it costs to stage the event.

As he talked, a smiling blond woman and a young girl drove by, waving, on another golf cart filled with flowers.

“Those people are cheap labor,” Gibbs called out, laughing and pointing to his wife, Sharon, and the daughter of his deputy manager. The two have volunteered to plant donated flowers.

Sharon Gibbs said her husband is in his element at fair time. “He loves it. He thrives on the high energy and he loves people,” she said.

The couple moved to Ventura County two years ago from Colusa, north of Sacramento. There, Roger Gibbs managed the local fair, which drew 40,000 people over five days, for 16 years.

Before that, the Palmer, Mass., native and father of five boys and grandfather of three girls had worked in parks and recreation management for about 10 years. When he moved to Ventura to take the $87,000-a-year job as chief executive and general manager of Seaside Park, he gave up horseback riding and took up surfing.

“Roger is laid-back and easygoing,” Raley said. “This time of year he’s charging full steam ahead, but you never see him get ruffled.”

Said Gibbs: “You’ve got to be a little bit paralegal and a little bit psychologist to deal with everybody and make it work.

“There’s no tomorrow with a fair. You just let it go,” he said. “Make a note for next year if something goes wrong and move on.”

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Today at the Fair

Here’s a look at some of what’s happening at the Ventura County Fair today.

* The schedule is subject to change.

* Seaside Park opens 11 a.m.

* Carnival Wristband: 10 rides for $10 (available until 8 p.m.)

* Parking at the fairgrounds is $5 per day. Free shuttle service is available with free parking at the Ventura County Government Center, Pacific View Mall, next to the Ventura High School stadium, and Harbor Boulevard and Schooner Drive. Shuttle service is also available with a $5-per-day fee at San Buenaventura State Beach.

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All day Andalusian Horse Show Morgan Arena Noon, 2, 4:30, All-Alaskan Racing Pigs Porker Flats ch. 6:30 p.m. 1 p.m. Academic Rodeo Spelling Bee Youth Expo 7 p.m. VRA Street Stocks Grandstand & Pony Stocks Arena ch. Figure 8s and Demolition Derby 8 p.m. Tower of Power Seaside Blues Club 8 p.m. Barry Byrd Band (reggae/ Pepsi Stage funk/R & B) 9:30 p.m. Fireworks 10 p.m. All buildings close

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