Fair Workers Training
For LA County Fair Workers
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Note: If you are NOT a CEF San Gabriel Valley Chapter volunteer, please be sure to check with your own chapter director for volunteer management details, including shift sign-up, fair workers training date/locations, admission ticket pick-up, parking pass purchases, CEF Child Protection Policy compliance requirements, etc.
LA County Fair Schedule
May 7-31, 2026 (16-17 Days)
2026 Fair Schedule with the corresponding responsible chapters:
Thursday 05/07 South Bay Chapter
Friday 05/08 Long Beach Chapter
Saturday 05/09 San Bernardino Chapter
Sunday 05/10 (Mother’s Day) San Gabriel Valley Chapter
Thursday 05/14 Mid-Cities Chapter
Friday 05/15 Mid-Cities Chapter
Saturday 05/16 San Gabriel Valley Chapter
Sunday 05/17 Mid-Cities Chapter
Thursday 05/21 San Gabriel Valley Chapter
Friday 05/22 San Gabriel Valley Chapter
Saturday 05/23 San Fernando Valley Chapter
Sunday 05/24 San Gabriel Valley Chapter
Monday 05/25 (Memorial Day) Pasadena Chapter
Thursday 05/28 Long Beach Chapter
Friday 05/29 San Gabriel Valley Chapter
Saturday 05/30 Spanish Chapter
Sunday 05/31 Riverside Chapter
Opening Shift (Starts at 11:00AM) / Closing Shift (Closes at 11:00PM)
Important Reminder: All team members scheduled for the 11:00 AM opening shift or 11:00 PM closing shift must be especially vigilant about their hours and strictly adhere to all fair rules and guidelines.
Opening Shift: Opening shift workers must arrive at the booth by 10:30 AM. Please plan ahead and allow about 1 hour to get through the fairgrounds, including time for parking and walking to the CEF Booth.
This year we also have a new background setup and file cabinet arrangement, so arriving early is important to give yourself time to locate everything and get familiar with the layout. Please take a moment to review this fair workers manual as well so you’re ready to open the booth promptly at 11:00 AM sharp.
Closing Shift - Critical: The booth must remain fully open until 11:00 PM. That means lights on, curtain open, and staff present until the official 11:00PM closing time. We cannot close even a minute early.
Violation Consequences: See the Notice of Violation example below. The message states: "Your booth has received a violation, this serves as a verbal warning. Continued violations will result in a written warning and could lead to fines." According to the Fair Vendor Guide, repeated offenders' chances of applying again next year could be jeopardized.
Thank you for your attention to this and for helping us stay in good standing throughout the event.
Below is a sample of how that violation note look like:
LA County Fair Location
Fair Location: 1101 W. McKinley Ave. , Pomona, CA 91768 (Click HERE for Driving Direction)
Fairplex Daily-Parking Fee is $22.50 (in-advance) or $26 (at the gate). Click HERE for Parking Pass Purchasing Link. Our CEF Fair Booth is located closer to Blue Lot / Gate 9.
Booth Open-up & Close-up
It is very important that only the provided CEF decorations and materials are inside the booth. Only CEF Southern California approved materials are allowed in the booth. When in doubt, please refer to the Fair Workers Training Packet.
Chair Arrangement
Front: 1 adult chair (facing outward) - See the clipboard with the sample story teller's tally sheet **Music Stand is for the story teller to use.
1st Row: 4 preschool size chairs
2nd-4th Row: 3 regular student chairs
**Make sure you arrange the chair configuration at the beginning and the end of your shift.
A small table may be used if you are bringing a bubble machine to place on it. This is the only item approved in addition to the current booth setup authorized by the CEF State Office.
Please note that TVs, projectors, puppets, free giveaways, extra chairs/tables, and any other additional items are not permitted unless prior approval has been obtained directly from the State Director, Scott Julian.
Thank you for your cooperation and for helping us maintain consistency across the booth setup!
Supply Storage Drawer Unit
Drawer A1 & B1: Contact Cards and CEF Pamphlets.
Drawer A2 & B2: Story Teller #1 and Story Teller #2 Tally Sheet Booklets
Drawer A3: End of Day Summary Stat Report Clipboard, Closing Shift Checklist & Fair Workers Training Manual.
Drawer B3: Incident Report Instruction & Fair Workers Training Manual.
Drawer A4 & B4: Give Aways (Tracts & Small Wordless Book)
Drawer A5 & B5: Bibles for Story Tellers Use/ Fair Map for Gideons Bibles (if anyone asks for Free Bibles).
The Fan: The fan should always be kept in the middle.
First Aid Kit: Stored at the foot of the black bins.
CEF Banner & Wordless Book Prop
When closing the curtain at the end of the day, please be sure to pull it behind the CEF banner so it remains visible from outside the booth at all times.
Also, the Wordless Book prop is very fragile. Please ensure that two people lift it when moving it to its designated position during the opening shift, and also when returning it behind the curtain during closing. It should never be dragged or handled by one person, as this may damage the prop.
Thank you for taking extra care in handling these items!
Power On/Off
You only need to turn off this power bar in the top left corner of the booth to shut off all power in the booth (for the lights and the fan).
Main Outlet
You shouldn't have to do this, but in case you get disconnected for power, please go outside of the tent and reconnect from the main outlet cube.
Cleaning Supplies
Sanitizing wipes and brooms are stored in the corner behind the curtains.
FAIR PERSONNELS
In total, we need about 200 Fair Workers for the LA County Fair Ministry over the span of 16-17 fair days. The shift schedule may vary from 3 hours, 4 hours or 6 hours depending on the responsible CEF local chapter's capacity of volunteers.
There are three major roles involved in the fair: team captains, story tellers and outside workers (hosts/hostesses).
All who will be involved will need to attend a Fair Workers Training session held by each chapter. If you include your prayer warriors to attend the training, they will be more aware of and ready to pray.
DIRECTOR OR APPOINTED TEAM CAPTAIN
- Enlists Fair workers and conducts Fair training for all serving in the fair.
- Responsible for seeing that all is in readiness for the day.
- Makes sure the booth remains adequately manned at all times.
- Assists story tellers and outside workers (hosts or hostesses)
- Totals all Story Tellers Tally Sheets for the day, then adds it to the Daily Stat Report Sheet (on clipboard located in the booth).
- Submit the Daily Stat Report electronically to http://cefsgv.org/fairstat or email to [email protected] or text to (626) 445-5810 **The responsible Chapter Director will be contacted the next morning if the daily stat report is not received.**
- Make sure the booth is cleaned up and properly closed at night.
- Check supplies needed for the next day and notify Admin Support if supplies are inadequate.
DAILY STAT REPORT (End of Day)
Must be submitted on the last shift of the day. Starting in Summer 2025, in addition to writing it down on the paper copy in the booth, electronic submission is also required via online form. If you're unable to submit online, then simply email [email protected] or text your day's stat to (626) 445-5810.
Example from last year:
This printable Daily Stat Report Sheet will be provided on a clipboard at the fair. Only the last person closing at 11:00PM is required to fill this out.
OUTSIDE WORKERS - HOST OR HOSTESS
- Stand in front of the booth. But don't block the door. Not far out in the street. The Fair restricts us from going too far outside the booth. The objective is to invite the children into the booth to hear the gospel. If a parent is with the child ask the parent's permission for the child to enter the booth and invite them in as well. DO NOT ALLOW PEOPLE TO COME AND VISIT IN THE BOOTH AND TAKE UP VALUABLE TIME. Be sure someone is manning the inviting post at all times so as not to miss any children going by due to your visiting. This job is for those unafraid of asking people in. BE ENTHUSIASTIC! SMILE! Pray while you see people coming. There are brochures and info request forms outside if someone has a question about CEF.
- Invite them in! To the children - "The story is about to begin...!", or "How about coming in to hear a wonderful Bible story?" Only takes 8 minutes!! To teens - "Good News For You," “the best news you will ever hear!” etc. This works for adults also.
- USE A PUPPET OR BUBBLE GUN to invite children into the booth. It is perfectly alright to add to the thrill of the fair. If you desire to do something like that be sure they know they will hear a story not a puppet play.
- OUR PRIMARY AIM - is for the children to hear the story. Those who invite have first contact with thechildren. Make it pleasant. If parents are there, let them know they are welcome to join their children and the story will take about 8 minutes.
- GET NAMES and addresses of adults interested in CEF on information request cards provided.
STORY TELLERS
- Greet the children as they come into the booth, and then proceed to tell the story for 8-10 minutes.
- Use the WORDLESS BOOK story ONLY to present a clear message of the gospel.
- Give the invitation to receive Christ.
- Encourage them to pray to God IF they are believing in Christ as Savior for the first time.
- Give them the handouts provided.
- After each story is told, on the STORY TELLER'S TALLY SHEET, Fill out the respective # of Children/Teens/Adults Contacts & Decision. Don’t wait until the end of your shift!!! See the sample STORY TELLER'S TALLY SHEET below on how to report correctly.
- Total your STORY TELLER'S TALLY SHEET when you leave the booth and place it in the STORY TELLER #1 OR #2 DRAWER.
- Share any interesting stories of the children or testimonies by scanning the QR Code or email: [email protected]. These stories are always needed.
Story Teller's Tally Report Sheet
DO’S AND DON’TS FOR ALL WORKERS
- Be neat and well dressed. Shorts are OK. Modesty is the issue. Ladies, if wearing a skirt, make sure that it covers your knees when you are seated and your top is not revealing anything... Wear a Good News Club or CYIA T-shirt if you have one.
- Do not entertain friends while on duty; spend time with them when your assignment is over.
- Do not use the booth for storage. The space is needed for supplies and workers items.
- Do not argue doctrine or promote a particular church or denomination while at the booth.
- Do not give anything out that is not cleared with the CEF State Office. There are certain restrictions while we are at the fair, we cannot do things that would conflict with other vendors such as giving away things that others sell during the fair. We have sent a sample of all the things that are given away at the booth to the Fair Office; they will expect us to hold to our plans.
- Do not be late. Please be on time for your assigned period. And if possible, be a little early so the worker you are relieving will have time to give any needed information. REMEMBER... Allow plenty of time for parking and walking to the booth.
- Maintain a good Christian witness at all times. You are there first of all, to represent the Lord Jesus Christ. Secondly, you represent Child Evangelism Fellowship. The Gospel is to be presented in its clearest form in the wordless book presentation and handouts.
- Keep the booth as neat and clean as possible. Keep literature in neat piles.
PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED AT THE FAIR:
- UNTRAINED PEOPLE. We have had many people in the booth who absolutely did not know what to do! This must not happen. You can avoid this through good training for them!
- A less than enthusiastic "out front" person. The person inviting the children in must be on guard All the time. This is key to good attendance in the booth. Invite families with the kids.
- No Show Volunteers. It doesn't matter which chapter's shift it may be, if there is less than two(2) volunteers at any scheduled shift, please let the Fair Admin Support know immediately Call/Text: (626) 445-5810 Email: [email protected] so no Fair Workers have to be manning the booth alone at any given time.
- Underage Fair worker did the inviting outside the booth as well as did the story telling in the booth. This is not wise. We have seen some discipline problems, a lack of respect, and other issues arose from that. All those who are assigned a spot in the booth need to be a CYIA’er or at least in high school or older. A child may help an adult playing with the bubbles or puppets...only in addition to a scheduled qualified adult worker.
- Teens inviting only teens into the booth are another problem. One teen was asked why she did this, she said she felt more comfortable. Please remind the team that CEF stands for "Child Evangelism Fellowship". Our mission focuses on children ages 5-12.
- Last but not least, all tally sheets and stat report needs to stay in the booth. Please do not take any of the tally sheets or stat report sheet home!!! At the end of the day, total up the story teller tally sheets, fill in the Daily Stat Report Sheet on the wall and submit the stats online on the last shift is very important. We need to do this diligently because stat reporting is vital to let our CEF Headquarter, our donors and ministry partners know the impact they have made through our Ministry. Some story tellers took their tally sheets home and we never did get a correct count. Therefore, please reiterate that all paperwork remain inside the booth.
SECURITY & EMERGENCY NUMBERS ON-SITE
Police, Fire and Medical Services are located on grounds during the Fair.
If you need security and don't see an officer in your general area, please call SECURITY DISPATCH: (909) 865-4357.
To avoid confusion please do NOT call 911.
INCIDENT REPORTING
Any problems or questions? Call the State Office at 818-349-9883 immediately and if necessary, leave a message.
1.) Remember you are not a social worker; DO NOT try to handle incidents by yourself.
2.) Document the incident by filling out the below form, which will be automatically sent to LA County Fair Admin Support and CEF So Cal State Office. If you do not hear back from someone within minutes, please call Scott Julian 310-614-1998 directly! Do not wait!
3.) Do not give any written communication to the parties involved in the incident without the CEF state office approval. Thank you!
