"The person who knows how to laugh at himself will never cease to be amused." ~ Shirley Maclaine
Fairs Year-round Information	F.Y.I. Volume 7, Issue 24 November 21, 1997

IN FOCUS

Are You Up to Speed on the New Telephone Area Codes?

The need for more and more phone numbers has resulted in the introduction of new area codes for communities throughout Northern and Southern California. To help you stay in touch, Pacific Bell offers the following information:

As of August 2, 1997, the 415 area code for San Mateo and parts of Santa Clara has changed to 650. Until January 31, 1998, your calls to these areas, including Half Moon Bay, Millbrae, Pacifica, Redwood City, San Bruno, San Mateo, South San Francisco, the San Francisco Airport, and portions of Daly City and Brisbane, will go through with either area code. After that, you must use the 650 area code. The 415 area code will remain unchanged in San Francisco, Marin, and portions of Daly City and Brisbane.

In July, new boundaries were set for the splitting of the 916 area code. The new area code, 530, serves the northern portion of the previous 916 area, including Yuba, Nevada, Alpine, Colusa, Butte, Plumas, Lassen, Trinity, Siskiyou, Sierra, Glenn, Tehama, Shasta and Modoc counties. It also serves the northern part of Placer County, the majority of Yolo County (except West Sacramento), Sutter County (except Pleasant Grove), and the 916 portions of El Dorado County (except El Dorado Hills). The 530 area code also serves small portions of Solano, Mendocino, Lake and Humboldt counties. The 530 area code went into effect November 1, and both the 916 and 530 area codes will work in the 530 areas until May 16, 1998. After this, only 530 will work.

The 916 portion of Sacramento County, the cities of West Sacramento and El Dorado Hills, and south Placer communities, including Roseville, will keep the 916 area code.

In Southern California, the 562 area code, serving the eastern side of what was previously the 310 area, has been in effect for close to a year. Affected communities, roughly all those east of the Los Angeles River, include Paramount, Downey, Lakewood, Norwalk and most of the city of Long Beach.

For more than six months, part of the area previously served by the 619 area code has had a 760 area code. This area includes northern and eastern San Diego County, and involves the communities of Encinitas, Vista, San Marcos, Escondido, Ramona and Julian, in addition to the Imperial Valley, Palm Springs, Baker, Mountain Pass, Shoshone, Death Valley and areas to the north. The 619 area code for metropolitan and southern areas of San Diego County stays the same. Questions? Call your local Pacific Bell business office.

Applications are now being accepted for the post of Chief Executive Officer for the Glenn County Fair in Orland, California. Under the direction of the board of directors of the 42nd District Agricultural Association, the CEO plans, organizes, implements and administers the development and utilization of the Glenn County fairground’s facilities. Salary is $4,464 to $5,308 monthly. For a full job description and application information, please contact:

Applications are due Monday, December 15, 1997.

Every week, different items are made available at military and state surplus yards throughout California. And every week, the surplus warehouse buyers visit these yards, looking for items fairs have requested, as well as items of use year-round on fairgrounds. To get in on the savings, give surplus buyer Graeme Stewart a call. Here’s a sampling of items currently in the warehouse. All are limited to stock on hand; first-come, first served:

• Barrel/tank dolly - ideal for transporting acetylene tanks
• Spools of ¼" cable wire - 745' per spool
• Bathroom sink with molded beige Formica™ -like counter top. Brand new; two available
• Glass display cases - approximately
• 5' long, 20" deep and 4' high
• Dot matrix printer stand with cover
• Open-face metal cabinet with shelves. Choose from a variety of sizes

For more information on these and other great buys, or if you’d like to arrange a tour of the South Sacramento surplus warehouse or accompany the buyer on a visit to a surplus yard, call Graeme Stewart at 916/765-3673.

Please Note: CFSA’s Surplus Purchasing Program is only authorized to obtain surplus property for California’s fairs.

Total paid attendances continue to rise. With 50 fairs reporting in, here’s how the numbers add up:

Patrick Skelton at the Cow Palace reports that if you missed the November 20th airing of the 1997 Grand National Rodeo Finals on ESPN, you should circle Wednesday, November 26 on your calendar. That’s when the finals will be rebroadcast at 11 a.m., also on ESPN.

While the dust is still settling on the 1997 fair season, many fairs are already deep into developing themes and plans for next year's event. An integral part of this development is finding a graphic artist that fits both your budget and marketing design needs.

Cheryl Kreps, supervisor of the California Authority of Racing Fairs' print shops, offers these timely hiring tips:

• Ask for price quotes up front, itemized and in writing. Make sure the quote includes necessities such as film negatives, veloxes (photographic prints made from a screen negative and used as camera-ready art) and stat sheets of your logo
• The price quote should also include the designer's hourly rate, along with any other staff time for which you would be responsible
• To help keep costs down, Cheryl notes, you could contact a local college for a graphic design student who would work for less than an established professional. On the other hand, she was quick to point out, a professional with printing experience and contacts can also be a money-saving asset

If you have any questions about hiring a graphic designer, or need a price quote for an upcoming print job, call Cheryl at 909/390-7788.

So far this year, CFSA has processed 4,328 Special Events receipts from fairs throughout California. From the fees collected, CFSA has returned $17,923 to participating fairs as part of the agency’s 5 percent refund program. The refund program was initiated to help underwrite participating fairs’ staff costs for time spent promoting the Special Events coverage.

Available to event participants in advance of an event or at the fairgrounds immediately before the event begins, this coverage is a convenient benefit you can offer your event participants.

Want to know more about the Special Events program? Please call Charl Sanchez, at 916/263-6145.

F.Y.I. invites and encourages all fairs to contribute articles and article ideas for the Fair Exchange column. We’ll even write the article for you. For details, call Melissa Thurber at 916/263-6178 or Joan Bartosik at 916/663-9256.
To add F.Y.I. to your press release mailing list, send or fax releases to:

1776 Tribute Road, Suite 100
Sacramento, CA 95815
Attn: Melissa Thurber
Fax: 916/646-1238