Damascus dad Alan Wakefield has decided this year he will pass on the funnel cake, corn dogs, Vortex rides and other pleasures that for families across America have long constituted a day at the county fair.
“It used to be nice; it’s no longer the family event it was, though,” Wakefield explains. “Last time I was there, I saw one guy arrested and another robbed. I’m over it.”
His teenage daughter Erin chimes in: “My friend’s car was broken into. It’s just too crazy.”
The county fair, the quintessential symbol of American summers, is struggling to retain its identity in modern times. Fair operators face challenges that run from skyrocketing energy costs to gang violence.
While statistics on crime at fairs are scant and localities that do retain them report few serious incidents, some residents nevertheless describe a newfound unease at what they once considered a safe venue.
Montgomery police say crime reports have been stable over the past few years. In 2007, 51 people were ejected from the fair — most were people who tried to enter the fair without paying for it, some were drunk or engaged in disorderly conduct, and 14 were engaged in gang-related behavior such as wearing gang colors, flashing gang signs or congregating with other gang members.
Just last year, Montgomery County police tossed out a two-year-old policy of banning known gang members from attending the fair, changing their focus instead to prohibiting gang clothing, flashing gang signs and allowing known gang members to congregate at the fair.
The changes came after officers denied three young men entrance to the 2006 fair because police believed they were affiliated with gangs. The teens filed civil rights complaints, and officers wound up changing the policy: It is not illegal to be a member of a gang; what is illegal is participating in criminal activity while in a gang.
The same year the men complained, however, another young male was also turned away, ran from police and dropped a loaded .32-caliber handgun.
“I don’t know what he was going to do with that gun, but that shows what we’re up against,” Police Capt. David Gillespie says. “We do want to respect people’s rights, give them the benefit of the doubt, but we also have to keep people safe. So far the new approach of targeting behavior has worked well for everybody.”
No other Washington-area county has a specific gang policy for local fairs. All say it’s a concern, but not a problem. The only other county able to provide statistics on fair incidents is Loudoun County, which recently wrapped up its 2008 festivities. All in all, police reported involvement in only two situations — they recovered lost property for a fair-goer, and were asked to escort a fired carnival worker off the premises.
Marty Svrcek, executive director of the Montgomery County Agricultural Center Inc., the nonprofit owner of the fairgrounds that runs the fair, is aware of what he’s up against.
He bristles at the crime comments from the Wakefields.
“I am sorry that happened, but the fact of the matter is that this fair is as safe as stepping out the front door of your house,” Svrcek says, adding there will be security of every stripe present to ensure safety — uniformed and undercover Montgomery County officers, gang task force members, park police, even video surveillance and crossing guards.
Svrcek says he has full confidence that county police tactics of aggressively targeting inappropriate behavior will keep people safe this year as it has in years past. On Tuesday, three days before the fair, he has plenty of other concerns on his mind.
Despite healthy attendance that last year reached a record, according to officials, the fair has struggled to stay out of the red.
Montgomery’s fair has only turned a profit four out of the past 11 years. The fairgrounds are old — this is the 60th anniversary of the fair, and the grounds need extensive upkeep — and the years the fair doesn’t earn a profit are years it can’t fund improvements.
“The amount we spend on electricity in 2008 is three times what we spent in 2006,” Svrcek explains, adding that it costs 15 percent more than it did in 2004 to operate the fairgrounds 365 days a year.
Montgomery County’s Agricultural Fair had 220,000 people passing through the Gaithersburg event’s gates last year.
Gaithersburg resident Brian Rodriguez, 11, says he’ll go twice, once with family, once with friends, raving that “the rides are great, the food is great, but mostly it’s just nice to be all together.”
But Svrcek says despite enthusiasm, other things can throw off a fair operator in 2008.
A Code Red or Code Orange air quality day proclamation can be trouble for the fair; it’s tough to compete with weather forecasters and local leaders telling parents to keep their kids indoors.
“Fair operators in the past never had to go up against code-designated days,” Svrcek says. “I like to remind people that no matter how hot it gets outside, it’s always cool at the fair.”
Some things, however, that kept a fair operator up at night in the 1950s are the same issues that worry Svrcek today.
“Our biggest concern? That’s probably still rain,” Svrcek says. “No matter what we do, we still can’t control that.”
Svrcek says, with a sigh of relief, that he’s just received a call from a colleague with the 10-day forecast and it’s calling for sunny days, no sweltering heat and no rain.
