DEL MAR: Lost and found at the fair

Cell phones, keys wallets turn up frequently

By JOHN RAIFSNIDER - For the North County Times | Tuesday, July 1, 2008 9:10 PM PDT ∞

DEL MAR ---- Missing something? A wallet? Cell phone? Car keys? If you've lost a valuable at the San Diego County Fair, it just might be at the fairgrounds' Guest Services office.

This summer the six-member staff of Sherland Dirksen, the Guest Services supervisor, has reunited nearly 75 percent of reported lost items with their rightful owners. They're even better at getting lost parents and spouses reconnected with their loved ones.

"With the kids, we're 41-for-41 so far this year, but then we've always been able to reunite a lost child with his or her parent," said Gail Tompkins, a Solana Beach resident who has been matching fairgoers with missing children or items for eight years.

"We usually have kids and their parents together again in under 15 minutes, often it's only five minutes. Getting spouses or significant others back together, that's not always as easy ---- sometimes they don't want to be reunited," she joked.

According to Tompkins, the most common items left at Guest Services are hats, children's shoes (rarely a pair), sweaters and car keys.

The easiest lost items to match with their owners are cell phones and wallets.

"Wallets are fairly easy for obvious reasons, people usually have some sort of identification in their wallets," she said. "With most cell phones, we try to contact someone they've called recently or we'll just wait until it rings and track them down that way."

Tompkins says she is perplexed that so many car keys and prescription glasses often go unclaimed.

"It makes you wonder how some people get home," she said. "Some of these keys are the really fancy ones, and they are a couple hundred dollars to replace, so you would think that whoever lost one of these keys might just come looking for them.

"Most glasses aren't cheap either ---- and how do these people see their way back to their car, or see their way when they are driving home?"

Tompkins says the two most unusual items ever turned into the Guest Services office were an X-ray of a brain scan and a set of dentures. Neither item was ever claimed.

"You have to wonder why anyone would bring an X-ray to the fair, and also, why wouldn't someone want to claim their teeth?" Overall, Dirksen's staff estimates that more than 80 percent of reported items are turned in to the Guest Services office.

"Sometimes when visitors report they've lost something at the fair, it turns out they've left the item at home or in their car," said Tompkins. "Unfortunately, they don't always call us back to tell us that they've found their lost item."

Dirksen said her experience suggests that most fair visitors are honest people who will turn in found items.

"Over the years we've had some really valuable items turned into this office, including wallets with money still inside," she said.

"We also get a lot of high-value items like some of these expensive electronic devices, things that I don't understand why people feel they need to bring to the fair.

"Fortunately for the people who lost them, there are a lot of honest people out there who do the right thing when they find a something laying on the ground."

"Case in point," interjected Becky Weckerly, a Guest Services representative sitting nearby. "Just this year, we had a woman come in here and report that she had lost a ruby ring that had a lot of sentimental value to her family.

"She was distraught and was saying that she'd never find that ring ---- that no one would ever turn in something like that," Weckerly recalled.

"We asked her to describe the ring, and sure enough, someone had turned it in earlier that day. Needless to say, she was ecstatic to get back the ring.

"It just goes to show that there truly are a lot of honest people out there."

Ways to keep your stuff at the fair

Gail Tompkins of the San Diego County Fair Guest Services office suggests the following to fair visitors:

-- Bring only the essentials to the fair.

"Visitors to the fair don't need to bring a wallet or a purse stuffed with important papers. Just bring the cash you need and a credit card or ATM card.

Leave everything else at home, and don't wear expensive jewelry to the fair. It might just get lost on the rides."  

-- Secure your cell phone.

"We hear about cell phones falling from rides every day. Even though all the rides have signs telling folks not to bring them on, people still do and they fall out and get lost. The worst that could happen is that a falling cell phone could hit someone ... so put the cell phones somewhere safe."  

-- Use identification bands on children.

"At all the fair entrances, there are identity bands available for the children of our guests, we call them ‘Kid Find Bands,' and they are free. We write the parent's cell phone number on the band and if the child becomes lost, one of our security people can radio us here in the office, and we can contact the parents and arrange for them to be reunited with their lost child."  

-- Establish a meeting place and time.

"We suggest every family ---- even if they have older children ---- arrange a meeting place if one of them gets lost, and a time that they can meet when they are ready to go home. It's a good idea, especially with teenagers, and it will help make your stay at the fair that much more fun, when you don't have to go looking for a family member or friend."

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