Bringing her four-decade love of the Santa Clara County Fair into her work

Salene Duarte, manager of the Santa Clara County Fair, stands behind one of the fair’s mascots from the mid-1980s on Thursday, July 18, 2024, in San Jose, Calif. (Karl Mondon/ Bay Area News Group)

You could say that Salene Duarte has been completely fixated on the Santa Clara County Fair ever since she first showed animals on the fairgrounds at the age of nine.

When the 80th edition of this South Bay tradition opens next Thursday, it will mark the 40th anniversary of the involvement of Duarte, who has served as fair manager since 2019 and this year took on the role of co-managing director of Fairgrounds Management Corp.

“I don’t consider it work,” said Duarte, 48, as she walked through the fairgrounds on Tully Road in San Jose. “I enjoy coming here every day.”

She hopes more families will enjoy coming to the fair this year as it celebrates its milestone July 25-28 and August 1-4 with the theme “80 Years of Innovation: From the Fields to the Future.” There will be a grand opening on opening day and children under 12 will be admitted free. A parade is planned for July 27 and August 3 will be another jam-packed day with the firefighters’ chili cook-off, a community day for people with special needs and the youth livestock auction.

Popular attractions include rides, magic shows and pig racing, as well as reptiles, BMX stunts and robots. This year, however, there are also monster truck rides, a mini circus show and a new partnership with Tech Interactive that brings interactive exhibits to the fair. Live entertainment on the Pavilion Stage includes tribute bands to Santana, the Beatles and Elvis, the 408 Collective, the Hitmen and Sonora San Jose. For more information, including tickets, visit www.thefair.org.

Of course, the 4H and Future Farmers of America livestock shows have special meaning for Duarte, who lives in San Jose. She started showing sheep and pigs as a child and switched to dairy cattle in high school. When she was a senior at Westmont High in the early 1990s, her mother oversaw the awards program, and when her mother decided to step down, Duarte took over. She even met her husband, David Duarte, when they showed livestock together at a show in Plymouth, California, and all three of her children have participated either as volunteers or as livestock exhibitors.

She was hired as fair director when COVID-19 turned everything upside down. The fairgrounds were converted into a testing and then vaccination site by the county health department, but Duarte kept the livestock portion of the fair going by making it virtual. But she’s more than thrilled that the fair is back so Santa Clara County residents can enjoy it in person again.

“I love the feeling I had when I came to the fair and I still do,” Duarte said. “Although the fair has changed significantly since I started, today’s kids still have the same fun hanging out with their friends and riding the rides.”

Bells of Honor: Bellarmine College Prep has announced that a stellar class of graduates will be inducted into its Hall of Fame next month, including developer and philanthropist John A. Sobrato, who graduated from the Jesuit school for boys in 1956. Sobrato will be honored Aug. 24 along with author Frank Bergon, oncologist John Glaspy and the school’s 2001 wrestling team, which captured Bellarmine’s first and only Central Coast Section title in the sport.