What is new fair leader Mike Garza looking forward to the most about the 2019 Park County Fair?

“I’m looking forward to surviving it, I hope,” he quipped in a recent interview.

County commissioners placed Garza in charge of the fair’s operations only a few months ago, but he’s no stranger to the annual event. For years, Garza has helped put on the fair, duties overseeing the maintenance of the buildings at the fairgrounds. The difference this year is that Garza, who’s the county’s building and grounds superintendent, is now also in charge of the entire fair’s operations.

“For me, this whole process is going to be just a huge learning process. It’s going to be like taking a sip from a firehose,” he said.

Garza expects to learn a lot about livestock, since he’s not as familiar with that side of the fair, and he’ll get a taste of what it takes to run every single event.

“I’m just kind of excited just to be here,” he said. By the end of fair week, “I’m sure I’ll be beat and tired and anxious and frustrated and all that, but I’m still pretty excited to experience the fair in its entirety.”

As he leads his first fair, Garza does have help, including from Events Administrator Audra Jewell, whose years of experience have made her quite familiar with what it takes for a successful fair week.

After firing the county’s events coordinator in March, commissioners decided to eliminate the position and have both Garza and Jewell take over the responsibilities associated with putting on the fair.

“For the most part, it’s pretty much what I expected,” Garza said of the job. “It’s just a bit overwhelming. I can understand the frustration and the anxiety levels that anybody in this position had.”

But he also said it’s been a “good” challenge.

“I’m still having fun,” Garza said, adding with a laugh, “Hopefully I have that same answer at the end of fair.”