When it comes to heavy lifting, few are better than the U.S. Marines.
Just ask Ed Gladney and Jim Strawn, two club leaders responsible for putting together this year’s edition of Design in Wood competition for the San Diego County Fair.
They’ll tell you how lucky they were when a steady contingent of Marines from Camp Pendleton arrived to help set up the annual show at the county fairgrounds.
The Marines moved any number of 300-plus pound wooden display cases and 350-pound raised wood platforms from their storage crates into position at the Mission Tower building starting a few weeks before the event’s June 7 opening.
And, they made short work of other locales at the fairgrounds, moving dirt for the animal exhibits, displays for the Mineral and Gem Show and cinder blocks for the flower displays behind the exhibition halls.
More than 300 uniformed volunteers volunteered (who, by the way— will be around to help break down the exhibits and put them back in storage starting July 5).
The Marines reappeared after a three-year absence at the fair; they were a fixture in the run up to the fair opening for years until the Covid-19 pandemic shut down in 2020.
And their return is the result of the efforts of long-time SDWFA member Gerald Capps, who ended a 40-year military career as a Command Sergeant Major in the U.S. Army (and a 7-year Marine veteran early in his service career). He played a key role in returning Marine volunteers to Del Mar.
He was asked to help the DIW team, and he quickly moved into action.
Using his ability of moving thousands of soldiers and tons of machines and materials around the globe, Capps was asked to help. He jumped in and assessed what tasks that were needed weeks before the fair opened.
He first assembled a 20-page briefing document with detailed spreadsheets outlining what fair operators needed in terms of help. He then went to the Sergeant Major at Camp Pendleton to find what help was needed. The briefing included detailed contact information for organizations taking part at Del Mar so that the Marines could coordinate directly with the right people.
Finding volunteers to help was the easiest part of the task. “It was pretty simple,” Capps says. The sergeant major there easily enlisted volunteers among Marines who are waiting around base to attend various schools there.
Capps also arranged for the rental of private passenger vans to ferry the men to and from the base to the fairgrounds and made sure the volunteers were amply fed at lunch.
The Marines had been a fixture at Del Mar during pre-fair activities in the pre-pandemic years but the manager who coordinated the program had left, and the new manager didn’t have the contacts needed.
This year, two managers at the fair asked him “to get involved, and I did,” he said.
The fair doesn’t compensate the Marines directly, so the fair management gives a donation to a special fund, which is used to cover the expense of special social events on base that the young, enlisted men couldn’t otherwise afford on their modest salaries.
“The money rolls back into their unit fund.,” says Capps.
They also receive fair tickets for themselves and their families.
Gerald regularly meets with the sergeant major at Camp Pendleton and officials at the fair to make sure that the operation runs smoothly.
It’s all in a day’s work for Capps, who was skilled at organizing complex moves and related tasks while he was in the military. As a command major sergeant—the second highest rank in the Arm, he once coordinated the move of an entire armored division from Germany to Iraq in just 45 days.
Coordinating the tasks for the association and other nonprofits at the fairgrounds is easy by comparison.
“It took two days to set up the platforms and display cabinets for Design in Wood, in years past,” said Capps. “With the help of 10 Marines, we were able to do it in an afternoon this year.”
“When older guys do this day after day, it wears them out,” he notes.
“The Marines are very focused, and very motivated, so all you have to do is give them guidance,” he added. “Sometimes, you have to slow them down a bit. They are young, strong, motivated young men. They do an impressive job.”
Camp Pendleton’s participation in the fair is a positive example of the military-civilian partnership, said Capps. It is also a reminder of the importance of volunteerism, which is emphasized at SDFWA.
The Marines' help made a substantial difference in getting the Design in Wood competition ready for this, not to mention other exhibits and they are to be commended for their efforts.
“We were lucky to have them,” said Capps.
Written by Columnist Tom York