The Kern County Fair passed through town last week, and so did the people who work at it.
One of those people, Lynette Strickland, 43, worked as a surgical nurse on and off for the past 16 years. Now, she’s a game operator, specifically a balloon agent, and works on commission at the fair.
When asked what made her get into this line of work, she said: “I was burned out. Here, I get to say ‘you’re a winner’ versus telling people their family member is gone.” Strickland said she loves being around people all day who are at her booth to “have fun and escape their problems for a little while.”
The process in this line of work is to drive to a city and set up the booth until it gets done, which means late hours. Then, there’s working the booth all day and all night until the fair closes – with two breaks that are an hour long – then tearing down, packing up, and starting to drive to the next city.
According to Strickland and her manager, Andy Fuller, the company Kelsey Royse LaPresto runs a very clean show, which means zero tolerance for drugs and zero tolerance for alcohol while working. As far as employee parties, Fuller said, “It’s just like any other place of work. KRL is running a business.”
Strickland got started in this career by helping out in a food booth for four years at her hometown fair in Coalinga. She met Fuller during this time. This past year, she quit her job at the hospital. The fair was in town, so she went to see if there was any work she could do temporarily. Strickland ran into Fuller and he offered her a spot in the balloon booth. This was a permanent position that doesn’t open up very often. She has been passing out darts ever since and enjoys the high energy of the work.
“I get all driven up when the crowds come to play for prizes,” she said.
When asked about her living arrangements on the road, Strickland said “I slept 15 hours my first three weeks because of the noise and unfamiliar surroundings.” She is used to it now and has gotten to know the people she works with. She calls her living space a bunkhouse, which is a 42-foot trailer containing eight beds and two showers. Everything is co-ed. When asked how she felt about that, Strickland said she is comfortable now. The younger people can get a little loud at sleep time, but the older people are quiet, she said.
As far as time off goes, everyone gets three months off in the winter.
Strickland takes a couple of days a month off and likes to go home to Coalinga to visit her family. She has two daughters, ages 13 and 25. She says she is “worried about them a lot and tries to see them whenever she can.” Her company works in California with the exception of a show in Boise, Idaho. Strickland is glad that she is in close range to her family.
The only downsides to the job are the cut in pay, no longer having retirement, and the absence of trust.
“When I was a nurse, people trusted me without question,” she said. “Out here, people don’t trust me as easily.”
Strickland says that the good things outweigh the bad and that she is having fun in a job after years of stress in the surgery room. When asked where she sees herself in five years, she said she wants to own some booths of her own.