At 87 years old, State Fair ticket-taker keeps family tradition alive
One of the oldest ticket takers at the MN State Fair
FOX 9's Symone Woolridge speaks with one of the oldest ticket takers at the Minnesota State Fair.
FALCON HEIGHTS, Minn. (FOX 9) - Walking down memory lane almost always sparks emotion. For 87-year-old Diane Juvland, that emotion is bittersweet.
"I grew up across the street from the Rice County Fair," she said. "The six of us kids, we’d walk over to the fair every day and just look at stuff."
For as long as she can remember, Diane has enjoyed attending the Minnesota State Fair. But it wasn’t until she had her own family when she realized the magnitude of the memories she began making.
"We'd bring the whole family up here," Diane said. "We'd park in the north lot over here someplace behind the grandstand. We brought food up for everybody."
State Fair ticket-taker
What we know:
Diane is one of the oldest ticket takers at the grandstand.
"You’re the older lady, 85?" someone asked while on their way into the grandstand.
"I’m 87," Diane responded. She’ll be 88 in October.
"People come up to me, you’re that old? You’re not that old!" Diane joked.
Working at the State Fair is what has kept her going. When FOX9 reporter Symone Woolridge asked Diane how long she plans to keep working at the fair, Diane had an immediate answer.
"I'm thinking if I come back, I might invest in a scooter."
"You’re going to keep going?" Symone asked.
"Well, as long as I can," Diane replied.
A lot has changed since Diane started working at the fair at the age of 60. The process of taking tickets has evolved. Diane remembers the days of counting tickets by hand, tearing tickets as each person came through the grandstand, and now scanning each ticket with a push of a button.
Family fair memories live through Diane
Why you should care:
housands of people attend the Minnesota State Fair during its 12-day run. So many families make the fair a part of their yearly tradition.
For the Juvland family, the fair became family.
They remember waking up early in the morning before the fair gates opened to be one of the first people on the fairgrounds. They’d also stay for hours to soak it all in.
"I just like coming up here. It's something different. It's not the same thing every day. The Salem Lutheran Church -- my husband loved the coffee over there and we'd go there for breakfast," Diane recalled.
Diane Juvland gets State Fair job after losing husband
Dig deeper:
"We" turned to "I" after the year 1997. Diane’s husband passed away after being diagnosed with cancer.
"We went there in July. Then the Fourth of July they come in with four doctors," Diane said. "Well, he has stage four cancer. He has to have chemo. He did the chemo. He lasted seven months."
Everything happened so fast.
Their lives were turned upside down. Diane’s heart was broken.
"I was really depressed after he passed," she said.
In 1998, Diane’s niece convinced her to work at the State Fair as a ticket-taker. Her immediate reaction was denial.
"They’re not going to hire me," she said.
Now almost three decades later, Diane is still working where she started.
"Do you ever get tired of the fair?" Symone asked.
"Only when it gets too hot," Diane said as she smiled.
Diane still moves around pretty well, but said she does tend to get tired while walking around. Her plan is to invest in a scooter for next year.
During the State Fair, she stays on the fairgrounds in a camper with her longtime friend and boss. Before the camper, she would sleep in a tent.
"We had a Coleman tent that had a divider. She had one side and I had the other side," Diane said. "We had a cot with the air mattress and blankets and a little microwave."
Diane tries to walk around the fair in the morning before going back to the camper to eat lunch. She said if she knows it’s going to be a long night, she’ll take a nap before heading back out to walk the fairgrounds.
"I pick up a lot of free stuff for my grandkids," she said.
Diane has 15 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.
Each year at the fair brings something new for her and new items she can bring home to her grandkids.
Diane’s favorite building is the Creative Activities Building because of the quilts and crafts. She started quilting after her husband passed away.