4A
|
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 5, 2020
|
APPEAL TRIBUNE
JoJo Rodriguez delivers an order at Taste of a Fair at the Oregon State Fairgrounds in Salem on Friday. Even though the fair's been canceled, organizers and food
vendors are providing those special fair favorites every weekend via a drive-through parking lot so residents don't completely miss out this summer.
PHOTOS BY BRIAN HAYES / STATESMAN JOURNAL
Taste of a Fair offers flavors of summer
Emily Teel
Salem Statesman Journal
If you go
USA TODAY NETWORK
Taste of a Fair
Clad in a Pronto Pup shirt and a face
mask of pretzel-printed fabric, Brian
Bradbury waved a car through a lane at
the Oregon State Fairgrounds.
With the Oregon State Fair long can-
celed due to coronavirus, the passen-
gers may not be able to ride the rides or
pet the farm animals, but Bradbury has
figured out how to offer a taste of bygone
summers amidst the strangeness of this
one.
He is a co-owner of Pacific Rim, the
concessionaire at the Fairgrounds. Six
weeks ago he launched Taste of a Fair, a
weekend evening drive-through lane
vending a weekly selection of fair food
favorites.
Inspired by the way In-N-Out han-
dled a long line of traffic when they
launched in December, Bradbury de-
vised a plan to create — in an area that is
typically parking during fair season — a
space for cars to come through and a
low-contact pick-up option for fair food.
It’s not the full menu every week, but
they aim to offer a selection of about 10
sweet and savory options every week.
They’re skipping things like pizza
that are widely available most of the
year, focusing instead on the foods spe-
cific to the State Fair and other summer
concessions. Bradbury thinks that by
Labor Day, Taste of a Fair will have been
able to offer all of the fair’s greatest hits.
The elephant ears and corn dogs are
always there, as are the funnel cakes,
said Brandbury, “and we’ve held over
the turkey legs another week due to
popular demand.” Strawberry shortcake
makes its debut this weekend, compet-
ing with deep-fried cheesecake.
Without exiting their vehicles, driv-
ers pass through a gateway framed by
waving bags of kettle corn and blue and
pink cotton candy. They choose their fa-
vorites from a posted photo menu and
pay, either with cash or card, by passing
their currency in a plastic bin. They then
receive a ticket and proceed to a cluster
of the food trailers.
To minimize contact between visi-
tors and staff preparing the food, a ded-
icated food runner visits each car, as-
sembles and bags each order, and
passes it in a plastic bin back to the driv-
Where: Oregon State Fairgrounds
at Silverton & 17th
When: Friday 4 to 8 p.m.; Saturday
and Sunday 12 to 8 p.m. through
Labor Day
More information:
https://oregonstatefair.org/
taste-of-a-fair/
JoJo Rodriguez grabs a fresh elephant ear for a customer.
An order of made-to-order curly fries is seen at Taste of a Fair at the Oregon
State Fairgrounds.
er.
The efficiency, said Bradbury, is
driven by a desire to minimize contact
points. “We’re trying to keep everybody
safe.” This is also the reason for the lim-
ited menu, so inside the trailers where
food is being prepared workers can
maintain physical distance from one
another.
JoJo Rodriguez is one of the food run-
ners, and she might have the best job in
the operation. Handing bags of curly
fries through car windows, she gets to
see the joy on the passengers’ faces.
“They love it,” she said, “they’re so
happy.”
Early on Friday evening, most of the
cars were from the immediate area in
Salem and Keizer. But Bradbury said on
weekend days they see folks from Alba-
ny, Canby, McMinnville and even Van-
couver, Washington.
“We’ve had cars come from Portland,
Tillamook and Eugene,” Bradbury said.
“It’s really cool to see it.”
They’ve primarily promoted the pro-
gram via Facebook and other social
media channels. That’s where Melissa
Castillo and Luis Barocio saw it.
“She has been telling me for days, ‘I
want a corndog!,” said Barocio, “it’s a
must.”
“We always come to the fair,” said
Castillo, “my mom, too, and we pretty
much come for the food.”
In the next car, a woman shrieked
with delight to find, yes, they did have
deep fried Oreos.
Bradbury said he’s seen similar pro-
grams pop up in Florida and California
but, to his knowledge, Taste of a Fair is
the only one in Oregon.
Disappointed over the fair’s cancella-
tion, said Bradbury, “we’re just trying to
give people something.” A taste of sum-
mer in a season changed by coronavi-
rus, he said, “we’re all just trying to
make the best of it. It’s the best we can
do.”
Emily Teel is the Food & Drink Editor
at the Statesman Journal. Contact her
at eteel@statesmanjournal.com, Face-
book, or Twitter. See what she’s cooking
and where she’s eating this week on In-
stagram: @emily_teel
Woodburn schools to start the fall with remote instruction only
Natalie Pate
Salem Statesman Journal
USA TODAY NETWORK
Woodburn School District leadership
announced the district will start the up-
coming school year with a comprehen-
sive distance learning model, rather
than their original plan for a hybrid
model with in-person teaching.
The change of course came after staff
and students were presumably exposed
to COVID-19 during in-person summer
meetings.
"We experienced our first exposure
during planning sessions for our sum-
mer programs," explained Superinten-
dent Oscar Moreno Gilson in a letter.
"Given that safety protocols were im-
plemented and followed, no exposed
staff tested positive."
However, he said, a second possible
exposure this week prompted them to
revisit the educational model for the
start of the 2020-21 school year.
"Even though this second exposure
was limited ... it highlighted how disrup-
tive these incidents can be," he said.
"As we have reflected on the impact
we have seen during our summer pro-
grams ... we feel it is in the best interest
of our students, families, and staff to
start the 2020-21 school year using a
Comprehensive Distance Learning
model," he said.
Moreno Gilson said school leaders
realize the model cannot replace direct
instruction, and it brings with it some
challenges.
Additionally, the district will be tem-
porarily suspending on-site athletic
practices as they transition to the new
model.
"As we are working to create our (dis-
tance learning) plan," Moreno Gilson
said, "we are exploring different options
to continue to support our students,
families and staff, and are committed to
finding ways to safely increase on-site
instruction."