Eddie Arana, Rick Thibodeau, & Chris Bakunas San Diego, Ca. March 2012

Eddie Arana, Rick Thibodeau, & Chris Bakunas San Diego, Ca. March 2012
Eddie Arana, Rick Thibodeau, & Chris Bakunas at Luche Libre Taco Shop in San Diego, March 2012

Monday, June 24, 2013

The Del Mar Fair - Whoops, I Mean The San Diego County Fair At Del Mar!

                  The main entrance to the 2013 S.D. County Fair in Del Mar

One of the highlights of my childhood in San Diego was the once a year visit we got to make to the Southern California Exposition in San Diego (which we called the Del Mar Fair, and is now known as the San Diego County Fair).

                                               These handy guidepost are everywhere

When my oldest sister was 16 she
 had taken a job as a ticket seller on the midway and my younger brother and I were able to ride any of the rides for free, as many times as we wanted.

                  The Avenue of the Palms, flanked by exhibition halls, leads straight to the midway

It was heaven.

Today I paid a visit to the fair for the first time in about three decades. I was nearly overcome with nostalgia. Everything about the place reminded me of a part of my gloriously misspent youth.

Try not to piss your pants

My first real employment was as a ride jock for Western Pacifc Shows, which provided the rides for the midway.

The first year I worked the fair I had just turned 14. It was quite the educational experience which I hesitate to elaborate on. There are some things I'm pretty sure my Mom still really doesn't need to know

                Brother Tom worked this joint and could stand a bottle up in 5 seconds, easy.

I ended up spending every summer after I turned 14 until I entered the USAF working for Western Pacific Shows, traveling north from San Diego to fairs in Costa Mesa, Vallejo, Turlock, Sacramento (that was the California State Fair, a great time), Pomona, and few other smaller places.

                             The thrill rides are far more thrilling at the Fair these days

Other kids went to summer camp or on family vacations, I was a Carny.

              Good thing everybody loaded up on corn dogs, deep-fried ice cream and funnel cake...

I learned more about life from the four summers I worked as a Carny than most people learn in, well, a lifetime.

                                                                          The classic

Most of what I learned was good, constructive - how to work, how to use tools, how to survive on my own, how to tell who was a threat and who was not.

                                                          I see Paris, I see France...

That last bit was something that came about from some of the not so good things I learned - how to fight, drink, and related ne'er do well stuff. It's also where I picked up my cigar habit, as I wanted to look and act just like my boss, who smoked cheap-ass Swisher Sweets (I smoke cigars still, but not Swisher Sweets).

             When I was a kid, the jointies made a percentage of the take - they always had money

For the most part, Carny's were alright people. Of course, there were a few bad ones, but most of those got weeded out quick. 

                          Right now, that kid in the lower far right seat is full of regret

Every place we set up the rides new people would be hired - most were forty milers that only worked that show and would quit before we had to slough the rides and move on - some would stick it out for a few more shows. Very few became actual Carnys.

                                                      The grand and glorious Midway

There were a few though that I would see every year. Twister Charley, SkyDive Mike, Toboggan Chuck (Who taught me everything about that ride), Woody the Electrician, and a number of jointies (Jointies work the joints, those games you play where you lose your money) like Bubbles (an aptly endowed woman with an obvious nickname), Billy who ran a dime-pitch, Westy who had a ladder-climb, and Anita who ran the freakshow.

                                                   One to brag about for a lifetime

I really should write a book about those summers.

                     The clocktower, the classic meeting and reconvening spot of all Fair veterans

Oops, I digressed a little. The 2013 San Diego County Fair in Del Mar. Much cleaner and much nicer than I remember it ever being. There are a tremendous amount of exhibits and shows to go along with the terrific Midway.

                 Pleasure Fix played one of the free stages, and they kicked out some serious jams

I'm too tired to write anymore tonight. Damn nostalgia trip sidetracked me. Oh well, just go to the Fair if you can, it's a good time for all.

     Thousands of people getting out of the house and enjoying the Fair on a Sunday

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