TULSA, Okla. — Rain nor shine stop Tulsa State Fair workers and vendors from setting up for opening day.
The first day is Thursday. The grounds are lit and active day and night to make ready for crowds.
Of those working late hours is Keith Gregory, a wood carver of 30 years.
He and his team come from Missouri for three reasons.
“Be safe, have fun, make money! In that order!”
Gregory owns Grizzly Mountain Saw Works. They have been coming to Tulsa for eight years.
“We’re selling more things, more bears, more eagles than we do anywhere else all year.”
They started set-up started Tuesday morning.
“It takes a tremendous amount of logs for the sawing that we’re going to do.”
Gregory and his team hauled 60 logs over. They are prepared to protect them with two tents.
“We’ve dealt with the rain before. when you’re working outside like this, you have to be ready for anything. the rain doesn’t really bother me. We’ve got stain we can put on it that’s waterproof.”
They make rounds at multiple fairs every year. What makes Tulsa stand out?
“There’s a lot of people that come through here. I've heard it’s a million-two, somewhere in there. That would make it the biggest show of our year. because it’s 11 days compacted together, that makes it real economical for us. so, that’s pretty good.”
They travel throughout the year to fairs in Iowa and Kansas. The next stop after Tulsa is Arkansas.
