Hometown Hero: Steve Ledbetter

Ledbetter is a retired Dallas police officer who has worked the fair since 1973.

Steve Ledbetter has been at the State Fair of Texas since 1973. At that time, he was a Dallas police officer. Now, the retired officer is the manager of the gates department at the State Fair of Texas.

Ledbetter manages the fair's 500 employees who park cars, scan tickets, drive the trams and tractor-trailers. For all of them, customer service is job number one. Ledbetter wants every fairgoer to feel like family and have a great time.

In June, Ledbetter starts planning for each fair. He ends his work at the end of each October. He loves giving back to the public and cares deeply about his employees.

The State Fair of Texas is in his blood. The Texas-OU game is his biggest challenge with its crowd of 200,000 people. Ledbetter will double his staff to park, scan tickets and guide game goers to the Cotton Bowl.

His staff handles hundreds of calls each day of the fair. If you'd like help with information, call the State Fair of Texas at (214) 565-9931.