Planning Fun Is Hard Work

Barbara Boester remembers a time at the Ventura County Fair, when all she had to worry about was minding her 8-month-old daughter while volunteering in the youth building.

That was 30 years ago. Today, Boester has a few more concerns.

This year, the 54-year-old Ventura resident, now the fair’s deputy manager, was responsible for rounding up carnival rides and midway games. Ray Cammack Shows usually provides this service for Ventura and Orange County fairs, but couldn’t after Orange County extended its festival.

For the last several months, Boester has been putting together the annual event’s games and rides from scratch -- everything from the 138-foot-high Mega-Drop to the Happy Pond, “where little ducks go around in a circle for the little kids.”

But even as the fair’s Wednesday opening looms, Boester is taking it all in stride.

For one thing, she has help -- she has hired Tony Guadagno, midway coordinator for the San Diego County Fair, which also puts together its carnival every year from independent operators.

That means some of the rides this year will come from the San Diego event, which ended July 4. And Boester is trying to use the imprint left by Ray Cammack Shows, which had been at the fair for the past 11 years.

“We tried to take the map that Cammack had, and where he had a Tilt-A-Whirl, we want a Tilt-A-Whirl,” Boester said. “It worked so well for him. He did over a million dollars worth of business last year.”

Not that all the rides will be the same as in previous years. Boester is particularly proud of two new ones from Fort Worth. They are the Mega-Drop and the 88-foot-high Fast Trax, which Boester described as the largest mobile slide in North America.

Another big-ticket item is the one returnee from Ray Cammack -- the Big Wheel, a 130-foot-high Ferris wheel that has been a fairgrounds landmark for a decade. What is Boester’s favorite ride?

It’s the Tilt-A-Whirl, at least in theory. She hasn’t been on it for about 10 years. More recently, she has been on the carousel and the kiddie train with her grandchildren, ages 5 and 8.

And her favorite game?

“I love the game where you throw the ball in the little fish bowl,” she said. “I love to watch the little kids walk away with the fish.”

It’s all a far cry from when the 24-year-old Boester was volunteering in the youth building with 8-month-old Angela at her side and 4-year-old Ann-Victoria playing in day care. The Pittsburgh native, who had moved to Ventura in 1968, continued volunteering for several years, then began working part time as a clerk in the administration office of the fairgrounds in 1978.

She became concessions manager in 1983 and this year was named deputy manager of the fair. In that job, she oversees all the rides, food, concessions and admissions -- everything that brings in revenue.

In finding the 40 or so rides needed for this year, she has traveled to Del Mar in San Diego County, Lompoc and Carpinteria to check out attractions.

She has also had her share of challenges. The biggest, she said, was just learning about the sizes of the rides. In one tentative map, “I had one ride two feet from the other,” necessitating a revision. She has heard about the accidents with the bungee jump and the Booster at the Orange County Fair, but she isn’t worried.

“These rides are safe,” she said.

On Monday, two days before most of the rides were due to arrive, Boester was out watching the Fast Trax slide go up and consulting with some of the workmen and ride operators already on site.

Bruce Pearlman, whose Santa Monica business is supplying four attractions this year, has worked with Boester in the past.

“She gives you the freedom to do your job properly,” Pearlman said.

During the 12 days of the fair, Boester arrives at the fairgrounds between 7:30 and 8 a.m. and leaves between 10 p.m. and midnight. She won’t take a day off.

But she will kick back when it’s over.

“We’re going to take a trip to the state fair in mid-August,” she said. “That’s relaxing for us.”