Fallbrook, Bonsall combine Chamber Day effort at county fair

The San Diego County Fair has a Chamber Day program where a specific chamber of commerce is showcased in the infield pavilion. This year, the Fallbrook Chamber of Commerce and the Bonsall Chamber of Commerce combined their presence at the fair and had booths in the pavilion June 12.

The Fallbrook and Bonsall chambers each had booths, as did specific members.

"Went great. We had a great time," said Bonsall Chamber of Commerce manager Lori Gaye.

"I think it went very well. The crowd was lighter than last year, but all in all I think for our members it went very well," said Fallbrook Chamber of Commerce membership services coordinator Jackie Toppin. "They were able to share their products and services with people who walked by and made some good contacts."

In addition to the Fallbrook and Bonsall chambers, booths were occupied by Audio and Computer Enterprises, Color Magic Creations, Doterra Modern Oils, the Fallbrook Marching Warriors (the Fallbrook Band Boosters hold Fallbrook Chamber of Commerce membership), Herbalife, Isagenix, Kaweo, Lyoness, New Day Solar, North County Academy of Dance, The Paintball Park at Camp Pendleton/Playland at Camp Pendleton, Pala Mesa Resort, Rawhide Ranch, SunPro Solar, and Zaraia Fire and Light.

"Combining the two chambers was really the way to go," Toppin said. "The energy level was high. The enthusiasm was high."

Gaye has been the Bonsall chamber manager since fall 2014 and proposed a Chamber Day with both chambers. "I asked Jackie about it," Gaye said.

"Our area's really the same," Gaye said. "Essentially we're one big area and there's no reason we can't join forces to enhance everything."

The two chambers had combined for the Chamber Member Expo in January at Pala Mesa Resort.

"Lori and I have been working together on a few things, so it seemed like a natural fit for us to do it jointly," Toppin said. "We have so many members who are members of both chambers."

Many of the members had giveaway items at their booths and most had activities. Toppin and Gaye encouraged the participants to have gimmicks as well as a booth. "Everybody did that," Toppin said.

The Fallbrook Chamber of Commerce had a putting contest for visitors to win prizes by hitting a golf ball. The Bonsall Chamber of Commerce had a hula hoop for visitors to test their ability to keep the hoop off the ground. Pala Mesa and the Fallbrook Marching Warriors had prize spins. Rawhide Ranch allowed visitors to have a roping experience. The Paintball Park at Camp Pendleton/Playland at Camp Pendleton provided a ring toss.

Kaweo provides guitar and ukelele performances and lessons and played in the infield pavilion when he was not sharing the music with Cory Carrier of Audio and Computer Enterprises, whose services include mobile disc jockey activity as well as recording, computer, and photo archive services. The North County Academy of Dance brought performers. Because Fallbrook High School had adjourned for the summer, the Fallbrook Marching Warriors did not have enough brass musicians for a live performance.

"It was just so much fun," Gaye said. "It was awesome."

Although the Fallbrook and Bonsall school districts had completed classes for the 2014-15 academic year, several other school districts including San Diego Unified were still in session when the two chambers occupied the infield pavilion that Friday.

"The traffic ebbed and flowed here," Gaye said.

"I would consider us doing it maybe later in the month when the public has settled down from being out of school," Toppin said.

Gaye would like to see Fallbrook and Bonsall utilize a Saturday for Chamber Day. "I think we'll get more morning crowd," she said.

The fair also opens earlier on weekends; the gates open at 10 a.m. Saturdays and Sundays and 11 a.m. on weekdays. The chambers and their members promoted the communities and local businesses until approximately 5 p.m., although Carrier continued playing music after the other businesses began their teardown activities.

"The members really felt a benefit from it. They felt that it was a productive day. They were glad that we were here," Gaye said.

"It was a good one," Gaye said. "Pretty much for the entire day everybody was smiling."

Toppin arrived at approximately 9 a.m. to begin the setup and other preparation activities. Gaye thought she needed to arrive earlier and was at the fair at 7:45 a.m. The Bonsall Chamber of Commerce had its monthly Sundowner on June 11, so Gaye unloaded the Sundowner items and loaded the fair items that night after returning home from the Sundowner. She had approximately five hours of sleep that night. "Would have been better if I had more sleep," she said.

Gaye now knows that she can arrive later than 7:45 a.m. but plans to be at the fair that early in future years. "I would do it again," she said. "I was able to avoid the rush."

Not only did Gaye avoid morning rush hour traffic with her early arrival, but she also avoided the rush of preparing for the chamber members who participated. "I would get here early again in a heartbeat. It takes away that rush," she said.

Gaye's early arrival also allowed her time to meet with fair personnel and with other helpers to coordinate the day's events. "It sets a precedent for the rest of the day," she said.

"I'm very proud to represent my community. Looking forward to coming back and doing it again next year," Toppin said.

"I would do this again," Gaye said.

"I met a lot of new people," Gaye said. "How do you not enjoy this?"