He’s taken care of the State Fairgrounds for years. Now, he needs our help after fire.
For nearly 30 years, Joe Crosby has tended every corner of the State Fairgrounds, living in a house just inside the fence at Gate 6 — within sight of Dorton Arena and its Pringle-shaped roof.
The fair so dominates his life that Crosby met his wife, Ronda, at her family’s fudge concession, and they married — of course — in the fairgrounds’ chapel.
Then early Thursday, with the State Fair long packed-up and gone, fire broke out at the Crosby house just up the hill from the Village of Yesteryear, forcing them to flee with Boone, their Great Dane puppy.
The house is a total loss, and the fairgrounds took the moment to encourage using the same fire safety that saved them.
“Smoke detectors. That’s what we’re saying,” said Sarah Ray, spokeswoman for the Fair.
Still, the Crosby family lost nearly everything.
For generations of fair-goers, this fund-raiser for the Crosby caretakers offers a chance to return the favor of keeping the place running through three decades of reptile shows, flea markets and library book sales. As of Friday morning, their gofundme page had raised nearly a third of the $15,000 they seek.
Whatever the fairgrounds needs, he’s there
As grounds superintendent, Crosby keeps a 24-hour vigil over North Carolina’s annual yard party, whether the season brings screams of upside-down riders on the Inferno or the lonely buzz of cicadas.
“If something goes bump in the night, I’m there,” he told Walter Magazine.
On any day, he might build a rotating cake display, hand-paint a sign for the FFA Children’s Barnyard or construct a Skee-Ball ramp with fried eggs for balls.
He’s attended so many fairs he can no longer stomach barbecue.
He joked via Facebook in 2020 that “if you see someone here walking very fast with a trail of smoke behind them, it is me,” and later that year:
“Yea, I survived another one. ... Having over a million of your closest friends in your front yard is not easy.”
For the sake of fried donuts, for the sake of Ferris wheels, for the sake of the family that makes it all work — Raleigh offers its thanks.
How you can help
To help Joe and Ronda Crosby, click on the gofundme page link or visit gofundme.com and type their names in the search engine.
