Sandwich Fair Times 2025 FINAL - Flipbook - Page 15
SPECIALIZING IN SCANDINAVIAN
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FIRST FACES OF THE FAIR SHOW YOU THE WAY IN
Perhaps the people who deserve the most respect for what
they do for the Sandwich Fair are those you see first, and
most briefly, when you go. At the peak, parking guides direct
hundreds of cars per hour into parking spots. At that pace, they
have seconds to see your vehicle, take cues from each other,
and point to where you should go.
These volunteers don’t have time for much else. Small talk and
catching up with friends on their way in aren’t options.
“When you’re out there, you don’t see people. All you see is
cars,” says Scott Breunig. He’s done the work for more than 40
years. “And I think a lot of people thought I was mad at them
or something, but I never even looked up. You can’t talk to
everybody that comes in there.”
If you’re trying to find out about something specific inside
the fair, the parking guides may not have the answer anyway.
“You can ask me what’s going on in there and I probably can’t
tell you,” says Brent Haag. “I do not know what goes on inside,
generally. I’ll sneak inside and get some fair food and that’s
about it.”
Coordination prevents chaos. Were you ever annoyed because
of someone’s poor parking outside a store? Imagine the
mayhem if that were multiplied several hundred-fold on a grass
lot with no stripes and all the drivers having to figure it out
themselves.
Breunig likes the problem solving that goes into minimizing
mishaps. Haag says mishaps are kept to a minimum when
drivers pay attention and follow directions. “We will get you
parked in and out with no hassles,” Haag says.
The task requires physical stamina. This all-day job isn’t one
you sit down for. Haag says, “We start at six in the morning until
eight, nine o’clock at night for five days straight. And we do it
with a smile on our face. Rain or shine.”
The shine can scorch. Breunig had sunburned lips his first years
at the fair. Then he started using a lot more sunscreen.
While you’re on your way in for carnival rides, food,
performances, contests, and camaraderie, the parking
assistants are missing all that. “I never really got to see the
fair too much,” Breunig says. “I saw it from the parking lot.” But
that’s not a complaint. “I like a lot of action, so it was good in
that regard.”
He and Haag say the people they work with make it worthwhile
too. Haag emphasized several others make it happen and they
deserve appreciation too. With a laugh, all Haag asks in return
is, “Be nice to us.”
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2025 Sandwich Fair Times
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