By Robert Zollna

Starting last Wednesday, the Kitsap county fair has been in full swing: The rides, the food, the displays and all the animals are a great time to be had for all. But how did all this happen?

According to Sunny Saunders, the Kitsap lead safety manager, planning for the next year’s fair begins as soon as the previous one is over. The fair board holds monthly meeting year-round to plan and coordinate all aspects of fair management.

“Each department checks in and gives updates to any planning for the next year’s fair or to address any problems with the previous year,” Saunders says.

Along with just the logistics of planning and executing such a large event, they are always on the look-out for new and exciting attractions to add to the festivities. This year a few of the new things include three new food vendors including a taco truck, a old time photo dress up photo booth, and selfie stations located at key points along the grounds.

As the fair date draws closer, a choreographed ballet starts to swing into gear: a month out the parks department gives the grounds a thorough going-over, grass is cut, trees are pruned and all the lighting and plumbing are inspected and repaired.

Three weeks out, volunteers fan out and touch up paint, sweep and do general cleaning.

A week out, the fair staff start the logistics of coordinating the various groups, clubs and venders, issuing passes and camping spots.

Four days out, a steady stream of trucks, trailers, RVs, and flatbeds arrive at the grounds as clubs groups and venders jockey to start setting up booths and displays.

Three days out, the constant sound of banging rings out across the grounds as sound stages, tables, booths,and carnival rides are erected.

Two days out, judging and ribbons are awarded and displayed, food venders start to unfold their trailers and a weeks worth of food and drinks are delivered onsite.

The day before the fair, like Noah’s ark, convoys of horse trailers, cattle trucks and passenger cars full of chickens, rabbits, and ducks signal the animals have arrived. Every one has to pass a vet check and takes 10 hours to complete. A traffic jam of sorts develops as animals, trailers and people wait patiently for their turn. The campgrounds are full and a temporary community springs into existence, friendships a year apart are renewed, and children ride bikes among the odd pair of llamas being led about for exercise. All this happens while people are staking up tents and even tepees.

At the other side of the fair, Dave Reimers is polishing a sphere machine – a rather steampunky looking contraption used for making irregular shaped rocks into perfectly polished spheres.

When asked what it takes for his organization, the Kitsap mineral and gem club, to do the fair every year he says, “It takes two 20-foot trailers, eight hours to just set up the display cases and another two days to fill them with club members displays.”

He feels quite passionate about teaching the younger generation about gem and mineral collecting and that the fair is the perfect opportunity to share knowledge and peak a general interest with the younger crowd.

The next building down is the Bremerton Northern Model railroaders club, with over 30 years at the fair they have “set up” taken to a fine art, the huge display of meticulous detailed landscapes and working rail cars was designed by their vice president Tom Barrett to break down into                     separate modules that stack onto nine carts and all fit in a enclosed 24-foot trailer like a jigsaw puzzle.

Club member Bob Jenson said that it took 5,000-6,000 hours to assemble the layout with the cost of doing events like the fair are paid for through club dues, yard sales and swap meets.

Not everything goes totally smoothly: during the night the Olympic Bird Fanciers outdoor aviary was vandalized, throwing the club behind schedule.

A team of Navy Volunteers and other fair groups pitched in to repair and repaint the large octagon-shaped gazebo, putting the club back on schedule. “This is really like a community with a common goal, a wonderful group of people,” said Annie Park, a bird club member.

So, While you enjoy the fair and all it has to offer, think of the massive number of dedicated people that work very hard behind the scenes to make it happen.

The Kitsap County Fair runs from Aug. 26-30.