The challenges of managing the biggest change in the fair layout since the move to the War Memorial Complex in 1989 and the prevalence of pro- and anti-GMO backers inside and outside the gates kept fair officials busy this year.

In fact, fair Managing Director Sherri Grimes and Avery Chumbley, president of the Maui Fair Alliance, were busy walking the fairgrounds this year, unable to do administrative and other management functions during the fair like they have in the past.

“It’s brutal, no rest,” Grimes said earlier this week.

She did not have total attendance figures Friday for the Maui Fair that ran from Oct. 2 to 5 because of the backlog. She did say that attendance appears to be pretty much the same, maybe even a little higher than last year’s 94,980 people that went through the gates.

Grimes and Chumbley both mentioned having to monitor groups and individuals representing both sides of the genetically modified organism issue. Voters will be deciding in November on a ballot initiative calling for a moratorium on the growing of GMO crops until a health and safety assessment is performed.

Chumbley mentioned “squabbling on both sides” with some taunting, which prompted calls to police on some occasions, and fair banners and signs tagged with bumper stickers.

“I spent the majority of my time dealing with both groups,” he said earlier this week. “It’s frustrating, because it took me away from my daily responsibilities of running the fair.”

Chumbley, who helped move the fair from the old Kahului Fairgrounds near Christ the King Church to the War Memorial Complex, was concerned about the political nature of the activities of GMO forces on both sides of the issue.

“The fair is apolitical,” he said.

He noted that parade entrants and exhibitors complete an application form acknowledging that they will be nonpolitical.

“I made a mistake this year in not closely policing the parade participants and in not closely policing those who applied for and received a booth at this year’s 92nd Maui Fair,” Chumbley said in a statement. “For those mistakes, I am deeply sorry. I wish to apologize to those who attended the Maui Fair for being subjected to political messages. I will take the necessary steps to prevent a repeat of the mistakes in future fairs.”

The fair is an ideal location for groups to go get out their messages to “crowded masses,” said Chumbley, noting that the Maui Fair is not alone in being a site for demonstrators and disseminators of political and religious information.

In fact, the fair was sued this year by a Maui pastor and his wife, who were handing out religious materials on a public sidewalk outside last year’s fair. Police officers ordered them to leave. The American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii Foundation sued Maui County and the fair over violations of the couple’s free speech rights.

Chumbley says it was a safety issue and not a First Amendment issue. He said that an event can control when and where such activities can take place if there is a safety issue. The sidewalk fronting the fair on Kanaloa Avenue near the intersection with Kaahumanu Avenue is particularly narrow, he noted.

“We are so squished in for space” that safety is his primary concern, Chumbley said.

The fair currently does not have policies regarding the dissemination of information, but that depending on how the lawsuit progresses, it may have to adopt formal policies, he said.

For their parts, organizations representing both sides of the GMO issue said that they followed the fair rules and were appreciative of the work of fair officials.

“We appreciated the opportunity to meet with thousands of fair attendees and discuss the initiative,” said Tom Blackburn-Rodriguez, spokesman for Citizens Against the Maui County Initiative. “We are grateful for the courtesy and opportunity to participate that fair officials provided.”

“We followed all fair rules and cooperated fully with fair management in all aspects,” said Blackburn-Rodriguez, saying that their members stayed in their booth and did not distribute any fliers at the fair gates or in the parade.

The SHAKA Movement, which led the effort to put the measure on the ballot, said in a statement that it set up “a nonpolitical purely educational booth in accordance to fair rules.”

“SHAKA salutes the fair management for its decision to allow this important GMO subject to have a public forum at the fair,” the group’s statement said.

“We worked closely with Avery Chumbley to establish ‘free speech zones’ outside the gates of the fair grounds where First Amendment free speech rights could be exercised while respecting traffic and pedestrian flow and public safety,” the statement said. “This was a historical and beautiful cooperative effort between a true citizen’s group and the Maui Fair. We feel it worked out excellent for SHAKA and the fair.”

SHAKA said that it has “a strict code of conduct to be peaceful, respectful and law abiding in all interactions.”

“We felt that both the ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ booths acted in accordance with these principles,” SHAKA said. “Any ‘squabbles’ were minor compared to the passions of people’s convictions on the GMO subject. We were overwhelmingly accepted and supported at the fair and could not be happier with how everything worked out.”

Monitoring the new configuration of the fair also kept Grimes busy. The fair had to move its Commercial and Products & Services tent, which had been anchored in the War Memorial Gym parking lot for years, because the county would not allow the fair to make holes for anchors in the newly paved parking lot.

The tents were combined into one tent that ran along Sakamoto Pool, which set off a chain reaction of changes. The games and Joy Zone rides were moved with the fair encroaching into the War Memorial Stadium parking lot for the first time for some attractions.

Grimes thought that the new layout was “the best for fairgoers” given the constraints. There may be some tweaking but fair officials anticipate using the same setup next year. She said that she received positive comments about the changes.

The products and services tent vendors said that they did “very well,” though it was dusty in the tent at times, said Grimes.

* Lee Imada can be reached at leeimada@mauinews.com.