Jobs at Fair a Tradition for Teenagers

To hear Orange County teenagers tell it, spending two weeks slaving over a grill, picking up trash or directing traffic at the county fair is tradition: It’s just what you do every summer.

Becky Bailey-Findley, chief executive and general manager of the fair, estimates that 30% of its employees are teenagers.

“This becomes a good place to make some quick money,” she said.

Some teenagers pay off their first car with their fair wages, or put away money for college. Others, such as Diana Haines, 18, of Santa Ana, use their earnings to pay for typical teenage purchases like CDs and movie tickets.

Haines works in Kids Park, singing songs and making crafts with younger visitors. This is her fourth year working the fair. She says she likes it better than her other job, as a parking lot attendant at Edison Field.

Ashkan Mermarian, 16, of Santa Ana is among those saving his modest earnings for more expensive goals. He also works in Kids Park, doing everything from building sand castles to dancing the macarena.

Of the $400 he expects to earn, he says he’ll put $300 toward car insurance. The remaining $100 will go toward his band’s demo tape recording.

The fair job is Mermarian’s first. He hopes it will help him get another job this summer. “Now that I have something under my belt, it’ll be easier,” he said.

Stooping over a Kids Park pool filled with dish soap, Priscilla Scaff, 15, blew giant bubbles for the children surrounding her. The Costa Mesa teenager plans to use her earnings to help pay for her church trip to Pope John Paul II’s World Youth Day in Toronto in 2002.

Although she’d love to buy some new clothes instead, Scaff said, “my mom and I thought it’d be a good idea to put [the earnings] into a bank account.”

Some fair employees return to work even after they are out of their teens. Many are children of fair workers or volunteers.

Ryan Dooley, 21, works as the personal assistant to “I Love Lucy” impersonator Suzanne LaRusch. He’s what fair employees affectionately call a “fair brat.”

He has virtually been at the fair since before he was born: His mother worked the switchboard while pregnant, and he has been a part of the fair, either volunteering or working, since he was a child.

“It’s in my blood,” he said.

For employees who started working as teenagers, abandoning the venue can be almost unthinkable. B.J. Lightvoet, 20, supervises seven teenagers who pick up trash. He has been working at the fair for five years. Although he plans to start classes in the fall at William Woods University, a small private school in Missouri, he said he’ll be back to work the fair each summer.

“It’s a curse that I love the fair so much,” he said, laughing.

The fair runs through July 29 at the Orange County Fairgrounds, 88 Fair Drive, Costa Mesa. Information: (714) 708-FAIR.