Tuesday, November 14, 2017 (1:44 pm)

Meet Jan Tubbiola, a 50-year OC Fair employee!

“Where are the restrooms?”

That’s the most commonly asked question at the OC Fair – at least according to Janice Tubbiola.

And she should know. She’s been working at the Fair since 1967, when she began as an assistant supervisor in the 4-H building – and before that she was a volunteer clerk. For the past few years she has worked in the information booths at the OC Fair.

“I decided to work in the information booth because I figured if I didn’t know about something, then nobody did,” Tubbiola said.

With 50 years under her belt, she’s probably right, but at 82, she admits she’s also forgetting a few things – specifically timelines. She jokes about not always being able to remember if a certain event was last year or 10 years ago.

“We call her Miss Information,” said her youngest of five children, Mark Tubbiola. He teasingly said it could go both ways – misinformation from Miss Information.

Still, while she may not remember exactly when something happened, she sure does have a lot of stories about what has happened at the OC Fair. Her memories are made even more meaningful by the fact that Mark and his siblings have all worked at the Fair in some capacity as well, and now one of her 12 grandchildren – Nik Kieler – is on the Fair staff.

Tubbiola remembers one of her sons working in maintenance years ago, when he sprayed a pair of his tennis shoes silver and then nailed them to a tree. Every time she walked by the tree, which was near Baja Blues, she would chuckle at the sight, until eventually someone finally took the shoes down. Tubbiola and her family made their mark on the OC Fair – both literally and figuratively.

“All their elementary school friends come and see me in the booth,” Tubbiola said.

She also has fond memories of how the Fairgrounds used to look, like when the Main Mall had grass in the middle, and the appearance of the old floral building, especially when a former boss got married inside. But she said she likes the new look of Pacific Amphitheatre, and she loves Heroes Hall.

During the 2017 OC Fair, a young man approached her booth and asked questions about Heroes Hall. She pointed to the various groups that had been stationed outside the veterans museum and mentioned recruiting. The young man was intrigued, and Tubbiola said he ended up walking straight over to the recruitment booth. She doesn’t know for sure if he enlisted, but she seemed proud to have sent him off toward a possible career in the military.

“All of her roles here have been working with the public because she loves the interaction,” said Kieler, who works at Centennial Farm. “I think she really likes the ‘fair family’ vibe, and that we all work together to put on an event for the community.”

One of Tubbiola’s favorite things about the OC Fair is the Read and Ride program offered to kids. She said she hears from parents about how great it is to get their children to read during the summer, and she enjoys seeing the looks on the kids’ faces when they are handed their prize – three free carnival rides – after turning in their book form.

After all these years, Tubbiola still lights up when she talks about the OC Fair. She likes to interact with people and enjoys being part of the staff.

And even if she isn’t on the payroll anymore, she still plans to come back every year. In fact, she’s already made a request to CEO Kathy Kramer about being issued a lifetime Super Pass.

“I think I’ve earned that,” Tubbiola said.

Wednesday, October 25, 2017 (11:34 am)

If you know Carnival Eats, you know Noah Cappe doesn’t mess around when it comes to fair food. He travels around the country visiting various fairs and carnivals, trying out the most outrageous, the biggest and the tastiest foods he can get his hands on.

And on the new episode of Carnival Eats – a TV show on the Cooking Channel – you’ll see food from your favorite fair: the OC Fair! 

Noah was at the OC Fair with his crew during the 2017 season, and he tried all kinds of good stuff. The premiere episode, which airs Thursday, Oct. 26, at 6 p.m. on the Cooking Channel, will feature the Unicorn Leg and deep-fried pizza. Yuuuuum.

Also, keep an eye out through all of Carnival Eats’ Season 5 for more OC Fair appearances. 

Wednesday, October 18, 2017 (1:35 pm)

Kathy Kramer, CEO of OC Fair & Event Center, was proud to take the stage at Samueli Theater on Oct. 17 to help honor the best, brightest and most generous members of the Orange County arts community.

Kramer joined Rick Stein, CEO of Arts Orange County, to recognize recipients of the 18th Annual OC Arts Awards, including Charlie and Ling Zhang, art patrons of the year; performer James Luna; choreographer Molly Lynch; Casa Romantica; impresario Kevin Staniec; and the musical ensemble Trio Celeste.

For more information on the OC Arts Awards, visit artsoc.org.

Kramer shared the following information with attendees and honorees at the awards ceremony:

OCFEC has been serving our community for 127 years. The arts play an important role in what we do all year long:
• We recently opened a new museum, Heroes Hall, dedicated to telling the stories of veterans.
• We just dedicated a new large-scale work of public art, Table of Dignity, honoring the important contributions of Orange County’s agricultural workers.
• We are also proud of our educational and community service work including Imaginology, our free STEAM education event, and Centennial Farm, where thousands of school children learn where their food comes from.
• In all, OC Fair & Event Center welcomes more than 3 million guests annually and hosts over 150 events each year – many of them cultural celebrations such as Tet Festival, Scottish Fest and Japan Fair. And we are excited to announce that Cirque du Soleil is making OC Fair & Event Center its Orange County home for the next 10 years.
• Of course, our annual competitions for professional, amateur and student artists have long been part of the OC Fair, as has been presenting world-class musical acts in our Pacific Amphitheatre.
• We delighted with our new partnership with Pacific Symphony in hosting its summer concert series in Pacific Amphitheatre. And are thrilled to work with Arts Orange County on a number of projects.

OC Fair & Event Center is very proud to be part of Orange County’s family of arts & culture organizations. We look forward to continuing to grow our engagement with the creative community for many years to come.

Tuesday, October 17, 2017 (3:01 pm)

On Saturday, Nov. 4, 2017, Centennial Farm at OC Fair & Event Center will host The Red Barn: Fire-and-Ash Wine Dinner, a unique dining experience featuring talented chefs, special guests and, best of all, a scrumptious multi-course farm-to-fork wine dinner.

To start, the exclusive event will feature live-fire exhibition-style appetizers, sparkling wines provided by Orange County Wine Society (OCWS) and tours of the farm and garden at 6:30 p.m. The Millennium Barn doors will then open at 7:30 p.m. for a multi-course family-style wine dinner featuring California’s bountiful produce and artisan meats cooked exclusively on an open fire in ash.

The live-fire cooking style is not a new trend, but it has become more popular in the last year or so as restaurants throughout the country are swapping out gas for wood. Bon Appetit wrote in June: “It’s funny to call this return to cooking with fire a trend. If it is, it’s certainly the oldest trend in the book. And yet there is no arguing that the burning hearth has of late gripped the restaurant world, seeming to bestow the imprimatur of ‘serious chef’ on anyone who embraces it.”

Cracklin’ wrapped porchetta will be served with blistered fingerling potatoes, and a grilled, split Cornish game hen will go well with fall succotash straight from Centennial Farm’s own garden. An ash-roasted autumn squash trio will feature rosemary, garlic and honey, while lemon-wilted spinach sides beef steak Portobello.

Need more to get your mouth watering? View the entire menu at ocfair.com/redbarn.

The menu will be prepared by Executive Chef Jesse Lopez, of Spectra Food Services, and has been curated by Chef Annie Morgan, of KOCI Radio’s Pots and Pans with Jack and Annie

Honored special guest for the evening is French-American artist Guy Buffet, whose restaurant-themed art has been featured in Food Arts and Wine & Travel magazines.

Speakers for the evening include:
Michele Richards, VP of Business Development, OC Fair & Event Center
Dan Kohler, food scientist on Hallmark Channel’s “Home & Family”
Melissa Cortina, butcher and owner of Bavette Meat & Provisions
Thom Curry, owner of Temecula Olive Oil Company
Irv Wnuck, wine expert and COO, Seize the Vine Wine Brokerage

Featured local farmers, artisans and wineries include:
Melissa’s Produce
OC Baking Company
M.O.F. Chef Stéphane Tréand of The Pastry School
Angeline Vineyards
Martin Ray Vineyards
Courtney Benham Wines
Orange County Wine Society

Service provided by Buena Park Future Farmers of America, and Orange County School of the Arts Culinary Arts & Hospitality Students.

Tickets to this exclusive event are $125 per person (available on Ticketmaster), which includes dinner, wines, gratuity, tax and parking. 

Support of The Red Barn dinner provides year-round educational opportunities through Centennial Farm, Heroes Hall and Imaginology, and helps fund our community give-back programs.

Friday, October 13, 2017 (6:27 pm)

A striking new photography exhibit, Kimberly Millett’s Operation Iraqi Freedom, debuts this weekend at Heroes Hall, which reopens Saturday, Oct. 14, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The exhibition on the first floor of Heroes Hall will feature images captured by Public Affairs Specialist Kimberly Millett while on assignment with the U.S. Army from 2006 to 2009. The exhibit is the Newport Beach resident’s first. As a graduate of UC San Diego, Millett was deployed twice to Iraq as a journalist.

Millett has previously worked in the Visual and Home Arts galleries at the OC Fair, and entered a collection of military coins in the Collections gallery. Her grandfather, William Boylhart, served at the Santa Ana Arm Air Base during WWII, and her brother, Ryan Millett, loaned Heroes Hall the military vehicles used at its opening. So it’s no surprise that she was attracted to the military.

“I had always thought of joining the military,” Millett said. “I read about basic training and boot camp and kind of liked the idea of the lifestyle before I even knew what it really was.”

During Millet’s first deployment she provided documentation – photographs and commentary – on the 89th MP Brigade stationed at Camp Victory, Iraq, from August 2006 to November 2007.

“It didn’t feel real,” Millett said of her first tour. “But if you do anything long enough, it becomes natural.”

During her second deployment to Iraq, from August 2008 to September 2009, she was assigned to document the activities of General Raymond T. Odierno and General David Petraeus as they sought to stabilize the country so the roots of democracy could take hold.

“We toured prisons, hospitals, an amusement park, voting facilities, police stations, markets and schools,” Millett said. “One trip would take us to a modern, thriving city, and on another day we would walk through a place that looked straight out of biblical times. I built a snowman in front of the president’s place. We went to Turkey for a lunch meeting. There were lavish palaces and towns with rivers of raw sewage. Every trip was an adventure in its own way.”

The photography exhibit features aluminum prints as well as several mementos from Millett’s tours, including Salaam the Sock Monkey, who became part of Millett’s journey and even earned a Combat Action Badge and Iraq Service Medal. The photos chosen depict outings, memorials, generals and leaders.

“My favorite part of working for the general was the battlefield circulations,” Millett said. “Once a week or so we would go to a new town and walk through the local marketplace. This gave the general (Odierno) a chance to talk informally to both businessmen and commanders about concerns. It was nice to see the country without a thick armored door between you and the people.”

Also coming up at Heroes Hall

Voices – Veterans Storytelling Project will feature local veterans sharing their stories of bravery. The evening is a culmination of a six week workshop in which veterans gathered at Heroes Hall to learn the best way to piece their stories together. Join us in supporting our local veterans at this free event on Friday, Oct. 20, at 6:30 p.m.

Heroes Hall is an exhibition hall honoring Orange County’s veterans. It opened in February 2017 and also features “The SAAAB Story” exhibit, which celebrates the history of the flight training center, as well as The Medal of Honor Plaza and the Orange County Walk of Honor, both tributes to veterans from Orange County who received high honors from the United States government. For more information about Heroes Hall, visit ocfair.com/heroeshall.