The Fair Flash

Ruth Ohm is the rear-gate keeper at the fair.

Don’t try to sneak into the fair the back way. Ruth Ohm and her husband John are on guard.
“I know all the people who run the fair,” said Ruth, who checks everyone who passes her flagged rope for one of eight required wristbands, tickets or other credentials.
“It’s a fun job,” she said Thursday, the first day of the fair. “But by nighttime, I’m ready to go to bed.”
The Ohms now live in Redmond, but were longtime island residents (she’s a member of the Gabelein family). They’ve looked after the back entrance to the fairgrounds at Fairgrounds Road for the past five years.
“We do this together, but right now he’s taking a nap,” she said.
Any unauthorized visitors? “Not so far,” she said. “There seem to be some cars that aren’t supposed to be there.”
She said her intentions were to come to the job prepared, since rain was in the forecast.
“I told John whatever you do, bring the chairs and the umbrellas. He brought the chairs,” she said.