Cancer can’t stop Miller’s rounds at the fair

Jo Miller described the older ladies she works with in the Orange

County Fair’s Home & Hobbies Building as “kind of a sorority.”

It becomes evident when you see the number of smiles and hugs the

73-year-old cancer survivor and mother of six gets just for showing

up to work.

Miller, who received the first of many chemotherapy treatments for

uterine cancer weeks ago, refuses to quit the job she’s loved each of

the last nine summers, even if it means she can only fill in

sporadically for those who call in sick.

It’s not the way she wanted it, but that’s the doctor’s orders.

It’s clear she takes great pride in assisting the judges when they

award different ribbons to competing blueberry pies, table settings

and embroideries. Though she admits she couldn’t even dream of making

a colorful scepter out of ostrich eggs and pearls, weaving baby

clothes or designing a Christmas ornament that anyone would want to

hang on their tree -- like some of the fair’s winning entrants -- she

admires everything in the building and won’t hesitate to show it to

anyone.

If she knows where an item is, she’ll point it out to you. If she

doesn’t, she’ll search until she finds it.

The Daily Pilot’s Jeff Benson toured the Home & Hobbies building

with Miller to discuss why she can’t stay away from the job she

loves.

How did you get your start here?

My first year at the fair was in 1996. My husband and I retired

from our own business, Miller Marine Canvas Products in Costa Mesa.

We made and designed boat covers and upholstery.

We’ve lived in Costa Mesa since 1954. We started at Freedom Homes,

one of the first housing tracts on the west side, but now we’re

walking distance from the fair.

What are your main responsibilities?

We work with the outside judges that come in. We have to clerk by

filling out sheets. Say they’re judging chocolate chip cookies or

brownies or peach jellies; the judges tell us their decision, and we

mark it down and put the ribbons on the items.

These judges sit at the table and taste everything. They’re very

experienced at what they’re doing, because, here, the judges have to

be qualified. They go to judging school, and then they work for a

year or two with another judge before they are hired as judges

themselves.

What happens to the items after they’re judged?

After we finish with the judging, everything is laid out on the

tables around the room. They’re assigned to a stage, such as the

Christmas stage, the baby stage or others. We’ll only reject items if

the judge disqualifies them.

Have you ever thought about being a judge?

To be very honest, I’m the most unartistic individual who’s ever

walked the face of the planet. I appreciate what they do. A judge who

doesn’t know what they’re doing is worthless.

You know so much about the items in the Home & Hobbies Building,

so what is your skill or hobby?

I raised six great children and 17 wonderful grandchildren. That’s

a skill.

Oh, and I love to garden. We have a very large yard, and it

constantly changes through the years. I’m always planting.

You’ve been here a while. What keeps you coming back?

It keeps me off the streets and out of trouble.

Next year, I’ll get my 10-year pin, and if I didn’t work this

year, I wouldn’t get it. But I really enjoy what I do. Ordinarily, I

work every day, but I’m on an on-call basis this year. I wasn’t able

to set up this year, which I miss. The tea settings are always my

favorite.

And you don’t get rich working for the fair, but you do make some

good friends. I really enjoy working here, and I enjoy the people

with whom I work. Some of the same people enter competitions every

year. We set up stages and try really hard to make them look the

best. Honestly, I didn’t think I was going to work this year.

Why not?

I was diagnosed with uterine cancer, and the doctor told me it was

OK to go back to work. So now I relieve people if they want a day

off. The day after my chemo treatments, I’m OK, but I get achy joints

about three days later. But that passes.

Isn’t it difficult to go through what you’re going through and to

stay so upbeat at work?

I want people to know that cancer’s not the end of the world, and

you can still have good days. I’m getting two kinds of chemo every

three weeks, and it’s about 14 to 18 months of treatment. But mainly,

I [work at the fair] because it’s fun.