NOTE: This page uses cascading style sheets (CSS) to present the content in the best possible manner. If you are reading this message, then you do not have a standards-compliant browser or CSS (or JavaScript) is not enabled in your browser, and the page will not appear as the designer intended. Please visit The Web Standards Project for details and for information about how to upgrade your browser.

 

Meet the Monroes — your festival greeters

By Ross Farrow
News-Sentinel Staff Writer

It’s a three-hour drive from their Butte County home, but Pat and Jim Monroe wouldn’t miss the Lodi Grape Festival and Harvest Fair for anything.

The Monroes, who live in Paradise, are the unofficial greeters to the vendors, exhibitors and service club members who park their vehicles at Lawrence Park each year during the Grape Festival.

“It’s our home away from home,” said Pat Monroe, 62. “Meeting the people is the most rewarding of everything. Hearing somebody say, ‘Hi, I remember you from last year,’ — that’s a really good feeling.”

The Monroes park their 22-foot travel trailer and pull out their lawn chairs at Lawrence Park entrance to perform their official greeting duties. This will be their sixth year at the Grape Festival.

“We always welcome anybody to come and say hi.” Pat Monroe said. “We got to know a lot of people by name.”

The Monroes were given the ultimate appreciation of their service last year, when the festival gave them the Western Fairs Association Blue Ribbon Award.

“We were really surprised and honored,” Pat Monroe said. “That was a shock and a half.”

“They’re great people,” said festival General Manager Mark Armstrong. “They’re like the welcome wagon — just an integral part of our event now.”

The couple became involved in the Grape Festival after visiting Lodi for the Good Sam Club Jamboree several years ago. They enjoyed meeting Armstrong and Assistant Manager Mikki Simpson.

“Working for Mark and his crew, we enjoy it very much,” said Jim Monroe, 69.

The couple arrive in Lodi the Monday of Grape Festival week and remain until the festival is over. Their day begins at 8 a.m. and can last as late as 2 a.m., or whenever the final vendor or exhibitor has left the grounds.

Jim Monroe prepares for the Grape Festival by marking the parking spaces at Lawrence Park, where vendors and exhibitors park. The couple will generally help people who have a dead battery or locked car keys.

“I always carry a spare jumper cables with me,” Jim Monroe said.

His wife added, “Jim will escort ladies at night to make sure they’re safe. He’s done that every year.”

“It’s just a courtesy thing I do,” Jim Monroe explained. “I enjoy it. If they feel safer, I’ll keep doing it.”

Pat Monroe has always been known to carry a camera onto the festival grounds and snap an endless number of pictures. This year, she will shoot pictures in a more official capacity as the festival photographer.

The Monroes don’t get paid, but they get perks such as a hamburger or candy from the vendors.

The couple moved to Paradise from the San Jose suburb of Campbell 30 years ago.

In Paradise, Pat Monroe volunteers for blood drives, is president of the American Legion Auxiliary and worked several years with American Legion bingo, Little League and other activities.

The Monroes help with the Paradise Parade of Flags by lining the streets with 1,080 American flags on Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Flag Day and Veterans Day.

The Monroes have four children between them, 18 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.