Category Archives: Community Benefit

Wine & dine this weekend at Fairplex

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There are many things to enjoy at the Fair, wine being one of them. And spirits. And beer. No, we’re not talking your typical 12 oz. cup of Budlight, nor are we referencing the margaritas you can pick up near the grandstand (although we do recommend those options for cooling off for the 21+ crowd.)

I am talking about the beverages you can enjoy and learn about at the Wine & Spirits Marketplace. Some of you may remember our Wine Wednesday posts from last year. The Fairey Blogster and I have learned quite a bit about the art of wine making and food pairing thanks to the classes offered by our wine experts!

All of our wines, spirits and beers at the Fair are from the Los Angeles International Competitions, which are held in the spring and early summer months at Fairplex. Each drink is analyzed and rated by a panel of esteemed judges. From mixologists to wine journalists to sake makers to restaurant owners, the list is vast and the expertise endless.

You can join in the fun early when you come to Fairplex this Saturday from 7-11 p.m. for Cheers – L.A.’s Wine, Spirits, Beer & Food Festival. The event features multiple tastings of all our award-winning beverages and an array of food trucks including the Grilled Cheese Truck, Downtown Dog, Me So Hungry and Suite 106 Cupcakes. Tickets are $50 pre-sale and include free tastings and $10 food truck bucks. Proceeds benefit The Learning Centers at Fairplex.

If you have some extra time and cash to spare, we highly doing your weekly wine & dine at Fairplex and fill up on all the wines, spirits & beers that will be featured at this year’s Fair. It will be a blast, we promise!

Cheers!

We miss you!

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It’s hard to believe it’s already been TWO months since the Fair ended. We miss the animals, the food, the rides, the loud music but most of all we miss you! Our fans, guests, blog readers/commentators. You are, after all, the reason we pull out all the stops and make the Fair happen every year :)

While 2013 is awhile away, our gates are still open. It might not be the carnival-tastic extravaganza the Fair was but we have some pretty cool events anyway (you know, Color Runs, NHRA finals, Oktoberfest… those kind of things). If you miss us as much as we miss you, check out the Fairplex official blog! We love to write there too :)

Until 2013 everyone!

-A Fair To Remember

Thanks For the Memories

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And so we end another Fair….and a great one it was! Thank you all for coming to our party. We enjoyed having you. What a way to celebrate our 90th anniversary! Here are some take-aways from this year:

  • 1,473,371 guests – and you were one of them! It was our fourth biggest Fair ever.
  • Food & shopping continued to be the two biggest reasons for coming to the Fair.
  • Guest satisfaction was the highest ever
  • Guests donated more than 110,000 cans of non-perishable food to Helping Hands, Caring Hearts Ministry, Foothill Family Shelter, Caring for the Hills, Inland Valley Hope Partners and the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank in exchange for free admission
  • In honor of 9/11, the Fair donated more than $9,300 in proceeds from the Weekend for Heroes promotion to the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation
  • City of Hope, Cedars-Sinai, American Red Cross, Huntington Hospital and Presbyterian Intercommunity Hospital held blood drives resulting in 734 pints of blood donated
  • Guests donated more than 16,000 books, 13,000 school supplies, 300 shoes and 2,400 pairs of socks to local charities in exchange for free admission
  • More than 140,000 students and teachers experienced the Fair educational exhibits through the FairKids Field Trip program at no charge
  • The Fair honored 17 communities and 31 community heroes on their dedicated days
  • Local universities also benefitted from special promotions and dedicated days with more than 10,000 discount redemptions

You helped make all this happen -so thanks again. Thanks, too, for reading Hot Blog on a Stick. We had a ton of fun giving away tickets and T-shirts. Keep reading us and pencil in the Fair for next year, Aug. 30-Sept. 29.

 

 

Asian culture comes to the Fair

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Asian culture has made waves in the U.S. lately. It’s no secret that Korean star PSY’s Gangnam Style music video has not only gone viral, but is the most “liked” video in YouTube history. It’s hard to go anywhere without hearing the catchy tune nowadays.

Riding off this culture phenomenon, Japanese, Chinese and Korean traditions all converged here at the Fair this weekend for an upbeat festival. There were all sorts of interesting things to see (and taste!) From “stinky” tofu–and it really did smell–to warm, crunchy egg rolls to a variety of flavored boba smoothies, it was an adventure from start to finish.

Check out what some of the booths had to offer in the photos below:

Oh, and in case you were curious, here’s the video, Gangnam Style:

It’s L.A. County Day at the Fair!

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We would like to thank the L.A. County employees who have done a wonderful job of serving the residents of Los Angeles! Many employees came out to the Fair today, including staff from the LAPD, LAFD, Department of Animal Care & Control, Public Health Services and many more. A special parade was given at noon to honor the employees.Check out some of the photos down below!

Beads are thrown from the top of a fire engine.

Smokey says hello!

Giving Back at the Fair

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Book Drive Donations

While we are all about fun at the Fair we also know it’s important to give back to the communities that mean so much to us.There are several ways we get involved with the community here including The Learning Centers at Fairplex programs, our FairKids Field Trip program and various community events.

There are ways you, as a Fairguest can give back too (and receive Fair tickets!):

-Thoughtful Thursdays: Every Thursday Fairguests have the chance to donate items to a variety of charities. This past Thursday we kicked off with a book drive resulting in over 6,000 donated books! Next week is the School Supply Drive. Click here for more details on Thoughtful Thursdays.

-Blood Drives: This year the Fair is working with the American Red Cross, Cedar Sinai, the City of Hope and Huntington Hospital to produce nine blood drives. We have had five so far, the most recent being this past weekend. The Huntington Hospital Bloodmobile was at the Fair and received 70 pints of donated blood!

-Canned Food Fridays: Friday was the first of 4 canned food Fridays planned for September. Guests brought in 24,372 cans in exchange for free admission noon-6 p.m. The food is donated to Los Angeles Regional Food Bank.

We truly appreciate all the enthusiasm and generosity our guests bring to the Fair. As cheesy as it sounds, we really couldn’t pull off these events without you. Thank you!

“Once Upon A Time…” A look into A Living Library of Fun!

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America’s Kids is home to A Living Library of Fun! There are many things to check out and the best part is, it’s all in the shade!

Teenagers can reconnect with their childhood when they visit the American Girls section or drop in at Jack and Annie’s Magic Tree House. You can also take photos with King Taco himself or look through the crafty creations displayed in the Art, Crafts and Sports sections.

Childhood Classics

This way to magical worlds!

We have some Dodger fans at the Fair (Sports section)

King Taco comes to visit the library

Give a Pint, Save a Life, Then Celebrate at the Fair

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Did you know that every two seconds, someone in the United States needs a blood transfusion? Or that blood is perishable, that red blood cells have a shelf life of only 42 days and and platelets just five days? The American Red Cross and blood donation sites throughout Southern California are in desperate need of donors. Summer is always a tough season with blood supplies needing major replenishment, but this year it’s particularly dire, according to the ARC.

I’m challenging you to do your part by donating blood at one of the many blood drives the L.A. County Fair is holding in conjunction with the ARC, Cedar Sinai, the City of Hope and Huntington Hospital. It’s simple, doesn’t take a lot of time and it is something most of us can do to help our community. And, you’ll receive a free any-day ticket to visit the L.A. County Fair for donating. The Fair runs Aug. 31-Sept. 30. Win and win!

Here are the dates for the drives:
Aug. 15, 10:30 a.m.-5 p.m., Sheraton Fairplex Hotel, 601 W. McKinley Ave., Pomona, sponsored by Huntington Hospital, walk in or pre-register for an appointment by emailing jackie.baca-geary@huntingtonhospital.com.

Aug. 16, 9 a.m.-8 p.m., Sheraton Fairplex Hotel, sponsored by the American Red Cross, walk in or pre-register for an appointment at www.redcrossblood.org and use the sponsor code fairmckinley.

Aug. 21, 12:30-6:30 p.m., Sheraton Fairplex Hotel, sponsored by the City of Hope, walk in.

Sept. 6 & 7, L.A. County Fair, 1-7:30 p.m., sponsored by Huntington Hospital, walk in at the blood mobile across from the Millard Sheets Center for the Arts.

Sept. 10, 9 a.m.-8 p.m., Sheraton Fairplex Hotel, sponsored by the American Red Cross, walk in or pre-register for an appointment at www.redcrossblood.org and use the sponsor code fairmckinley.

Sept. 14, noon-7 p.m., L.A. County Fair, sponsored by Cedar Sinai, walk in at the blood mobile across from the Millard Sheets Center for the Arts.

Sept. 15, 10-4 p.m., L.A. County Fair, sponsored by the City of Hope, walk in at the blood mobile across from the Millard Sheeets Center for the Arts.

Sept. 21, 1-7 p.m., L.A. County  Fair, sponsored by the American Red Cross, walk in at the blood mobile across from the Millard Sheets Center for the Arts.

Who needs Twilight when you have the Fair and our great blood drive partners? See you in the blood lines.

 

L.A. County Fair Wants You – Job Fair Today

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The Fair is hosting a job fair today. We are looking to fill approximately 500 seasonal positions for our annual end of summer event. A second job fair will be held Monday, Aug. 6. The Fair runs Aug. 31-Sept. 30, closed Mondays (except Labor Day) and Tuesdays.

Hours for both job fairs are 10 a.m.-4 p.m. in Fairplex Expo Hall 6. Parking is at Gate 1. The Fair has open positions in janitorial, maintenance, parking, carnival, admissions and Zoom In, Fairplex’s in-house photo company. Most positions require applicants to be 18 years of age and older.

For more information on the job fairs, call (909) 865-4308 or (909) 865-4309. See job listings at lacountyfairjobs.com.

If you need season employment, come on over!

And the Winner Is…

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Winner Robert De Camp's new car!

Three lucky Fair guests walked out of our closing day with a set of keys, $1000 in gas, and an Alaskan cruise for two. Hundreds gathered as the winners of the L.A. County Fair and Pomona Rotary 7th annual raffle were announced Oct. 2. Four-year-old Jonathan was picked from the crowd to draw the names.

Taking home the grand prize of a 1968 classic Corvette Convertable was Robert De Camp of Apple Valley. Renee Webb will be cruising around Alaska in the near future and First World will not have to fill up the gas tank for quite a while.

Fair guest 4-year-old Jonathan picks the winners

Proceeds from the ticket sales benefit The Learning Centers at Fairplex, Rotary International and dozens of other community organizations.

Congratulations to our winners and thanks to everyone who supported great local non-profits through your ticket purchases!