High school graduation season is a nonstop affair for the maintenance crew at the Deschutes County Fair & Expo Center.

The expo center is hosting five graduation ceremonies in four days this week. The string of graduations started Wednesday with Ridgeview High School and will continue to Saturday when Bend and Summit high schools hold their graduations.

Martin Leunen, operations supervisor, and his five employees worked last week to clear out dirt on the main floor of the expo center from the Oregon High School Equestrian Team state championship. The crew then spent last weekend setting up the stage and more than 600 chairs on the main floor for the graduations.

“As far as graduations go, they are pretty self-sufficient,” Leunen said. “We just have to keep up on the cleaning and stay up on everything in between.”

Everything in between includes picking up garbage from the arena seats and keeping the bathrooms cleaned. Each graduation can draw between 2,000 and 3,000 people.

Schools that shoot confetti or have decorations on the main floor are responsible for cleaning those up, Leunen said.

The hardest day in the four-day stretch is Saturday, when Bend High School holds graduation for 395 students at 11 a.m. and Summit High School holds its graduation for 371 graduates at 4 p.m.

“We go back to back,” Leunen said. “I have to bring in extra help to pick up.”

In years past, the high schools brought their janitorial staffs and did all the set up and tear down for the graduations at the fairgrounds.

But in recent years, each high school chose to pay $1,000 to have the fairgrounds prepare the ceremonies.

“For many years, the high schools themselves would come in and set their own stage and bring in a janitorial staff,” Dan Despotopulos, fairgrounds director, said. “All we did was open the doors.”

As for any traffic concerns with thousands of people traveling to the fairgrounds, both entrances will be open during the ceremonies to help keep traffic flowing through the area.

The Oregon Department of Transportation requires some large events in the region, such as the Sisters Rodeo, to submit a traffic plan. No traffic plan is needed for the graduations or even the annual Deschutes County Fair and Rodeo, according to the state transportation department.

After four days of graduations, the fairgrounds maintenance crew will have to switch gears quickly and prepare for a memorial service Sunday at the expo center.

The 3 p.m. service is for Rhett Larsen, 39, a firefighter for the Bend Fire Department who died June 2 after hitting a bear while riding his motorcycle on U.S. Highway 26 on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation.

From graduations and rodeos to memorial services, the fairgrounds prides itself on being a resource for the county, Despotopulos said.

“We are here for the community,” Despotopulos said.

— Reporter: 541-617-7820, kspurr@bendbulletin.com