At 9 a.m. sharp, Gate 5 at Fair Park hums to life. The sun cuts through the State Fair of Texas banners, while the smell of turkey legs and fried dough hangs in the air.
“Good morning! Y’all have your tickets ready?” calls out 87-year-old Faye Thomas, her voice both warm and firm — the sound of someone who’s been doing this long enough to know that kindness keeps the line moving faster than impatience ever could.
She’s wearing a blue shirt and hat both with the State Fair logo on it. She scans tickets, waves to families and directs child-filled strollers and happy parents to photo ops with people dressed as popular superheroes.
Everyone gets the same thing: a smile and a “have a great day.”
Thomas has worked at this same gate for 35 years. Her daughter-in-law worked here first and asked her if she wanted to try it.
“And I did, and I’ve been going back ever since,” she said.
Gate 5 is one of seven entrances and Thomas hasn’t budged when it comes to working anywhere else.
“That’s the best gate in the State Fair of Texas,” she says with a grin. “It’s a special gate.”
Gate 5 is the Grand Gate to Fair Park, right next to the African American Museum of Dallas and Magnolia Beer Garden.
It’s also home to a kind of community that lasts far beyond the fairgrounds. Ann Taulton has been Thomas’ supervisor for about 18 years. They spent their shifts laughing, teasing their younger co-workers and greeting kids as they walk by.
“She's here when I can't get nobody else to be here,” Taulton said. “Miss Faye is always on time and she'll stay as long as I need her. We hang out outside of it, too.”
Visitors recognize Thomas, as well. Some families seek her line every year, skipping others just to be greeted by her familiar face.
“She’s sweet,” says Lee Andrews, who comes to the fair each fall with his wife. “It gives you that family feel. She's gonna greet you with a smile and is very welcoming.”
Thomas was born in Frederick, Okla., and moved to Dallas in 1960. In 1989, she started her long tradition at the fair. These days, her income is a mix of Social Security and her few weeks of State Fair pay, which started out as $5 an hour and is now $18 an hour.
“[It’s] a big chunk in my income,” she admits. “But I don’t do it just for the money. I do it because I enjoy it — meeting people, talking to them, making sure they have a good time.”
For residents of South Dallas, the State Fair is more than a yearly event — it’s an economic engine. Locals rent out yards for parking and sell snacks or souvenirs to crowds streaming toward Fair Park. Thomas sees how much the fair means to the neighborhood.
“It just benefits the whole community,” she said. “People enjoy having to park their cars in their yard so they won't have to go so far to walk to the State Fair.”
Her work is steady and joyful, but it can sometimes have its moments.
“You tell the people what they can do and can't do and [some] have an attitude with you,” she said, laughing softly. “You just keep smiling and tell 'em have a nice day.”
Thomas has watched the fair change and grow — she’s seen co-workers retire and pass away, attractions come and go and each new generation of attendees. She’s been around since the building of the African American Museum to the day Big Tex caught fire in 2012.
“It was really a sad day for everyone,” she said. “They really didn't want to work here no more. Big Tex had been there for so many years. They were really saddened about that because they knew there wasn't gonna be no other Big Tex like him.”
But each fall, when the banners go up and Big Tex’s arm starts waving again, she’s back at Gate 5.
“I'm still there, so I thank God for that,” she said. “It makes me feel young.”
By midday, the crowd thickens with families, teens, school kids, couples in matching fair T-shirts. The sun beats down, and Thomas barely pauses as she scans ticket after ticket.
Each beep of the scanner is part of her rhythm. Each “thank you” is a small act of care. When asked if she’ll ever stop, she just chuckles.
“I enjoy going back every year and hope to go back next year if I can.”
Arts Access is an arts journalism collaboration powered by The Dallas Morning News and KERA.
This community-funded journalism initiative is funded by the Better Together Fund, Carol & Don Glendenning, City of Dallas OAC, The University of Texas at Dallas, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, Eugene McDermott Foundation, James & Gayle Halperin Foundation, Jennifer & Peter Altabef and The Meadows Foundation. The News and KERA retain full editorial control of Arts Access’ journalism.
