Tulsa State Fair & Bernie Anderson RIP

It's not a competition!

If you read my last blog, it is kind of obvious why I posted this picture first!

Having slept the entire flight from Munich to New York City, I collected my suitcase and headed for my car, conveniently parked in the long term parking at JFK. It was hot, and I had a 20-hour drive ahead of me, which I was going to do over three days (what did you think). I had planned on not going too far the first night, but I hadn't planned on the traffic getting out of New York City, which put me back another hour. In the end, I made it as far as Harrisburg, Pennsylvania where I stayed at a Springhill Suites Motel, part of the Marriott Group, which I had some points for from earlier in the year. I'm actually a member of Bonvoy-Marriott, Hilton Honours and Wyndham Rewards and wish I had started collecting points earlier. Ever since Covid hit, hotels in the USA have become less attractive, and it's difficult to find somewhere decent for less than $150 per night. Indeed, most hotel breakfasts are now served with plastic cutlery and I would not eat those omelettes ever, now I have seen they come out of a prepackaged bag! Having said that, most of the Bonvoy-Marriott and Hilton group are at least clean, Wyndham, sadly not so much!

The hotel did have a little gym and so first thing in the morning, I spend 35 minutes on the elliptical machine and another few minutes stretching, before having a bit of toast and eating an apple. I also took a couple of bananas for the journey and downed a couple of cups of pretty yucky coffee, I was already missing that lovely German breakfast!

I remember very little of the day's drive, and spent the night appropriately in Collinsville, Illinois, some 12 hours from Harrisburg, that left me a mere 6 hours to go!

I took my time getting up; again visited the gym, had a spot of breakfast and away I went, bananas and more coffee in hand.

My contact at the fair was Amanda and I texted her around lunchtime to give her my ETA, this was the first time I had ever been to Tulsa, indeed my first time to Oklahoma, and I was quite excited to go somewhere new. Amanda told me to meet her at the fairgrounds where I could unload my props, and she would give me my parking and gate credentials.

True to her word, she was waiting for me with an envelope when I arrived at the fairgrounds, and she showed me my storage shed / dressing room and the adjacent performance area. My first thought was, "I am going to be facing the sun"; My second thought was, "That's a lot of black top" (Tarmac for those in the UK); My third thought was "inappropriate". I hoped the disappointment with the spot didn't show on my face! It was the end of September, hopefully it wouldn't get too hot.

Not my spot, but look at the size of that screen

I said goodbye to Amanda and headed for the hotel, I was staying at the Embassy Suites, which turned out to be really nice. The staff were friendly on arrival, and I was staying on the 7th floor. The hotel was built around a large enclosed square atrium with a bar and restaurant, swimming pool and fitness studio on the ground floor and the guest rooms on the upper 8 levels. There was even a happy hour with two free drinks per room, per day, and fortunately I had arrived at the appropriate time, things were most definitely looking up! My room (or suite even) had two rooms, a bathroom and a little dining area and most importantly, it was very clean. I unpacked all my clothes into the drawers and closet, something I always do when I am staying for a while, and I was going to be here for 13 nights, played my guitar for a bit and went to bed tired but happy, my first show wasn't till 3pm, so there was no rush.

The next morning, I got up, showered and made my way down to investigate the breakfast, already preparing myself for the usual prepackaged rubbish and plastic cutlery. The elevator had three glass sides which looked inwards towards the atrium and as I descended I could see a number of waitresses... interesting. Exiting the elevator and I saw a room laid out with some pretty decent food and better still a cook at an egg station ready to make fresh omelettes and fried eggs anyway I wanted them. Better still proper metal cutlery! There was also decent fruit salad and biscuits and gravy. Okay, not as nice as Germany, but for the USA this was great! The staff (except for the cook, who was a man called Carol) were all Latin ladies, and all were friendly and full of smiles. This was going to be just fine. I had two eggs over easy with toast and a bit of fruit salad.

The fitness studio was a little dated, but it had an elliptical (which is my favourite thing) and so I was happy enough, besides which I am a member of Planet Fitness and I had already located at least two of those purple palaces within a two-mile radius, so I had plenty of opportunities to work out, something as I get older I have to do more and more just to carry on performing my act.

As it was my first day, I decided to go into the fair early and set off at 12.30, so I would arrive by 1 pm at the latest. Amanda had given me a hang tag for the parking lot with specific instructions on where to park. Following her instructions to the letter, I arrived and was promptly told by the attendant that no, I could not park there as it was reserved for the disabled. Fair enough, I said, remembering that Amanda had said I could park in any of the paid lots. I turned around and headed into the non-disabled lot where the attendant told me my hang tag was not valid, and I would have to pay $20, I said "I didn't", she said "I did", I said "I will call management". I called Amanda, "I will send someone over" was her reply. By this time I had already been in the parking lot for thirty minutes, and it was starting to get a bit hot. Someone official arrived and put the attendant straight, I parked my car and walked into the fair, sheesh!

Before I had got to the fair that morning, I had been texted by a young man called Jamie who had informed me he was my stage manager and sound man, and we had agreed to meet at the shed at 1 pm, a good two hours before my first set. I was sharing the spot with Pogo Duncan and Legend Harry, who perform an extreme Pogo show (these two were replacements for my friend Pogo Fred who unfortunately had to pull out due to back issues), but they hadn't arrived just yet. However, Jamie was waiting for me. He showed me the speakers, "Wow" I exclaimed, "Is that it!" It looked pretty old and pretty beaten up. "Yes, sorry" he replied. Surprisingly, the speaker didn't work, by this time it was 2 pm and Duncan and Harry arrived. Duncan looked like a teenager, but he turns out to be 24 years old and Harry is a tallish-bearded 31-year-old with long brown hair, despite their youth they are nice guys (If you don't know what extreme pogoing is check out this link https://www.xpogo.com/team) . I explain the speaker situation and inform them that Jamie has gone to fetch another one. Immediately opposite us is a 160 feet tall carnival (fairground) ride called the Skyscraper which costs $35 per person, and they have two large speakers pointing straight at us. "That's going to be an issue" the three of us agree. I go over and talk to the operators, who turn out to be nice people, and they offer to not play their music whilst we are performing our shows, a promise which they kept too, which was very good of them.

By this time, Jamie has arrived with a second speaker that doesn't look any better than the first, and at this point I realize my first show is not going to happen. I call Mark my agent, who tells me to keep cool and let them deal with it, it is after all the first day and there are often a couple of issues. I keep my cool. Eventually Jamie manages to get the speaker working, I point out that we really are going to need two speakers as promised, and he says he will work on it. We never ever got the two speakers for the entire 11 days!

My 5 pm show is okay, we are right next to one of the fair entrances which is a little difficult as some people are in a hurry to get in and out of the fair and walk straight through the middle of the performance area, some of them I can play with, but it becomes a little distracting especially as the 160 feet Skyscraper ride has people screaming as they fly through the air so close to us.

My last show of the day is at 7 pm and the main stage band starts at 7.30 pm. The main stage (The one in the picture) isn't very far from us, and I quickly realize I am going to need to finish my show at 7.25 pm or get drowned out. I do manage to do that, but it's not ideal, and Harry and Duncan have no chance whatsoever of being heard at 8 pm. We are all a little disappointed with the situation.

Day two doesn't get any better, once again the car park attendant tells me my hang-tag is no good, I tell her to phone her manager and just park anyway, my car is still there when I return 5 hours later, so I am guessing someone put her straight!

The shed (dressing room if you like) has a little window mounted air-conditioner which is a nice touch but does very little, and we find it's much more pleasant to sit outside it in the shade. My first show is at 3.30 pm today and there are very few people on the fairgrounds, the sun is beating down and the few people who have stopped to watch me are concentrated in the tiny little bit of shade under the information booth canopy and the edge of a corn dog concession, it is 86 degrees (30 Celsius) and the black top makes it even hotter with the sun shining full on in my face. I give the audience what I can, but it is a long way short of what it should be. The Pogo boys have a similar experience at 4.30 pm. My 5.30 pm is a little better, there are a few more people by now, but the Skyscraper and the gate also don't help.

My 7 pm is okay, there are a few distractions from the main stage announcements, it's alright, but a long way from being good. I call Mark, who tells me to hang in there as he is coming himself on Sunday and will assess the situation.

Saturday is a little busier but the pitch is hot and it's difficult to hold the crowd until the sun goes down.

The hotel staff are lovely, one of the receptionists Keith starts chatting with me and as soon as he hears my accent he is straight there with "Which football team do you support?" "Ipswich Town." I sheepishly reply "The Tractor boys!""I'm sorry" he replies. I was blighted by Ipswich Town from an early age as my Dad first took me to Portman Road as a 9 year old boy. Back then were their glory days with Bobby Robson as their manager and he really was great. The team even won the FA cup in 1978, sadly that was the end of their greatness until last years brief promotion to the premier league, a position they had not been in for over 20 years! Keith turns out to support Manchester United, whatever! He is a little bit fanatic about them and like many Americans assumes that all British people are football crazy. As I said, I support Ipswich Town and therefore have a difficult relationship with the beautiful game!

Mark arrives on Sunday and surveys the performance area at the fair. He's a little frustrated by its location so close to the gate and the Skyscraper ride, the fact that the speaker is so old and also that we have no bleachers. He promises to do something about it, but sadly he has to leave on Monday as something else has occurred which needs his urgent attention. Luckily Tommy (who also works for the agency) is on hand to help sort the situation out.

And so by Wednesday we have a set of bleachers and showtimes that mean we don't get blown out by the main stage. It's still hot though and there is nothing anyone can do about that! The bleachers help as do the new times, but it's still nothing like it could be!

As I have said in many previous posts I live in the beautiful state of Vermont where people are not overly religious and I grew up in the United Kingdom which is one of the least religious countries in the world. So I am a little bit shocked by the sheer number of fair-goers who are openly wearing crosses around their necks. Indeed in one of my shows I literally had three children volunteers named Adam, Cain and Ruth. I remarked "I'm sensing a biblical theme here!"and their father (They were all from the same family) beamed with a mixture of pride and joy. On another occasion I choose a man wearing a t-shirt which proclaimed 'Jesus is with me' he too smiled and laughed when I told him that I picked him because I was getting two volunteers in one person. I think this must be the first time I have ever worked in the Bible-belt proper.

I had told my cousin Debbie that I was working at the Tulsa State Fair and she told me that I must go to the BMX Hall of Fame and museum which is also located in Tulsa. Debbie's father Bernie, who very sadly died on 15th October 2025, and later his son BA were the driving force behind the museum and indeed the sport. I met Bernie a couple of times on my visits to San Antonio and enjoyed my brief visits with him, even though he was at least 90 when I met him he had a mischievous, cheeky and fun glint in his eyes.

I have taken the following few lines straight from his memorial text -

In the 1970s, Bernie’s path took another pivotal turn when his two young sons began racing in the emerging sport of Bicycle Motocross. Wanting to give them a place to compete, he became the track operator of Lonestar BMX in San Antonio. His passion for the sport led him to create Rebel Racing, his own BMX brand.

Then, in 1985, when the opportunity arose, Bernie purchased the Arizona-based sanctioning body, the American Bicycle Association (ABA) — today known as USA BMX. Over the decades that followed, his leadership helped elevate BMX from a grassroots pastime to a respected international sport that would one day become an Olympic event.

Recognizing the need to honor the sport’s pioneers, Anderson founded the National BMX Hall of Fame in 1985, which celebrated its 40th anniversary this year.

His lifelong dedication was recognized in 2007 when he was inducted into the U.S. Bicycling Hall of Fame, followed by his own induction into the National BMX Hall of Fame the next year.

Bernie Anderson

I asked Harry and Duncan if they would like to join me at the museum and they readily agreed, after all we didn't start till at least 3.30 pm most days, so we had plenty of time in the mornings. Cousin Debbie had told me to ask for Gork and when she found out I was taking the Pogo boys she asked me if they could bring their sticks. And so on the Thursday morning we set off for the museum. It wasn't hard to find, the covered track was huge and there were plenty of signs. We pulled into a large parking lot and made our way to the entrance of a large glass fronted modern building. Gork greeted us at the door, he was a nice man and spent the next 2 hours showing us the museum and the track. Being extreme sports people themselves Harry and Duncan were fascinated and it turned out that many of their Pogo moves had quite literally been taken from earlier BMX moves. It's a great facility and we even got to meet an Olympian BMX rider who was there to do some training. We finished our visit with Gork taking some pictures of the three of us in action outside the museum. https://www.usabmx.com/

For some reason press promotion day is on the last Friday of the fair, why it wasn't the first Friday of the fair is a little confusing, but there you have it. I had already been contacted by a very enthusiastic lady called Jayden from 'News on 6' and we had agreed to me doing a live spot with her at 9 am (excellent, I thought, at least it will be cool). Jayden turns out to be lovely and you can see the segment if you click the link below -

https://www.newson6.com/story/68dff64a145a7c08f929954f/groovy-guy-tulsa-state-fair-laughter-carnival

Not surprisingly, I have a good deal more people at my show that afternoon as most of them had seen me on TV that morning! In fact I had more people for the final three days due to the TV segment, h'mmmmm!

By Sunday I am slightly sun burnt and looking forward to finishing the run. A man appears just before my last show and hands me a check (cheque). I do my show, say goodbye to the Pogo boys and head back to the hotel. It's a 20 hour drive home and I want to do it in two days, because by this stage I am a little homesick. I have had less than 14 days at home since 10th June and I am scheduled to perform on a cruise ship in 5 days time.