THE TEAM
Brandon and Kasey Dutcher, owners of Platinum PRO Portables in Sun Valley, California, oversee a staff of nine technicians and nine sales and back-office personnel.
On hand for the California Watermelon Festival were technicians Dave Hardisty, Bill Davis, Daniel Sanchez, Avi Sanchez and Alberto Beltran on the portable sanitation side, and Juan Valdez and Francisco Chavez who handled fencing. Sanchez also served as an on-site attendant at the event, along with Elise Ginsburg and a temporary worker from an outside agency.
COMPANY HISTORY
The Dutchers established the company in 2016 with the idea of offering restroom trailers for high-end events. They had been looking for something to satisfy their desire to own their own business and to get Brandon off the road as they started their family, which now includes five children. His job as a journeyman lineman building power lines required extensive travel and long hours. It was another four years before he quit his job during which time they grew the business and expanded their offerings to include standard portable restrooms and fencing.
Today they have 1,000 standard units (PolyJohn and Satellite Industries), 17 restroom trailers (Satellite Suites, Comforts of Home Services, Rich Specialty Trailers), 100,000 feet of fence panels and 50,000 feet of chain-link fencing.
MAKING CONNECTIONS
The company bid on and won the California Watermelon Festival in 2021. Unfortunately it was subsequently cancelled that year due to COVID, but they’ve handled it every year since.
The relationship with the event company has been a very good one, Brandon Dutcher reports. “They actually order enough equipment which is often a problem with events because people always try to get away with the minimum.”
THE MAIN EVENT
More than 100,000 pounds of watermelon were delivered to the Hansen Dam Recreation Area soccer complex in Lakeview Terrace, California, for the attendees of the California Watermelon Festival June 22 and 23, 2024.
In addition to all-you-can-eat watermelon, festival-goers enjoyed themed merchandise, street artists, bands, a beer garden, carnival rides, a petting zoo and fun backgrounds for photo ops. Food and drink vendors are known for finding creative ways to include the fruit in their offerings.
Watermelon fairies flitted through the crowd, artists created fantastical watermelon carvings and many attendees got in on the action by dressing up and competing in the costume contest.
BY THE NUMBERS
The company brought in 120 standard portable restrooms, six ADA-compatible units, 80 double hand-wash stations and seven three-compartment hot/cold deli sinks with 250-gallon holding tanks. All equipment was from Satellite.
Five units, one ADA-compatible unit and three hand-wash stations were placed just outside the venue entrance. Inside, to the left, was a bank of approximately 40 standard units, two ADA-compatible units and 30 hand-wash stations. To the right were 20 units, one ADA-compatible unit and 15 hand-wash stations. Fourteen units and seven hand-wash stations were set up near the food vendors. The remainder of the equipment was placed near the carnival and amusement rides.
The company also brought in 700 feet of six-foot panel fencing to enclose the banks of portable restrooms; 40 feet of eight-foot panels to create an enclosure for displaying painted murals; 550 feet of white vinyl picket fencing for the beer garden, eating tents and the dance floor; and 2,560 feet of pedestrian SONCO barricades for entrance line control and to create an efficient traffic flow in the field that served as the parking lot.
LET’S ROLL
For pickup and delivery the company used three 14-unit transport trailers, one from Diamond C and two custom-built. Fencing and barricades were delivered using a 2023 Ford F-650 with a 24-foot flatbed.
Equipment was brought in on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday before the weekend event. “There’s a process,” Dutcher says. “We want to get the majority of units in before too much stuff gets put in. And portable restrooms are needed for the other vendors setting up, so those go in first. And we can’t put the hot/cold sinks in until the food vendors have their booths set up.”
On Wednesday the company brought in portable restrooms and hand-wash stations, Thursday was fencing and barricades, and Friday was hot/cold sinks. Everything was removed Monday.
The layout was planned ahead of time with event coordinators. “But there are always last-minute changes,” Dutcher says. “There are a lot of moving parts — tents, food vendors, merchants, rides. They do a really good job of measuring everything out and marking the ground before everything starts moving in. But you always have little tweaks to make sure everything fits.”
KEEPIN’ IT CLEAN
All three attendants were at the event both days, ensuring equipment was kept in good condition, units were well-stocked, and to handle any issues that might arise. Also on site for the duration “just in case” was one of the company’s vacuum trucks, a 2018 Ram 5500 from FlowMark with a 1,100-gallon waste/400-gallon freshwater aluminum tank and a National Vacuum Equipment pump.
Holding tanks were serviced on Saturday during the day. Fortunately, the layout of the venue facilitated access. “They left a nice lane on both sides behind the food vendors, up against the fence,” Dutcher says.
The rest of the equipment was serviced Sunday morning between 6 and 9 a.m. by three technicians. Their service trucks included a 2020 Peterbilt 337 from FlowMark with a 1,600-gallon waste/400-gallon freshwater aluminum tank and an NVE pump, and two 2021 Ram 5500s from Imperial Industries with 950-gallon waste/350-gallon freshwater aluminum tanks and Masport pumps.
The company used deodorizer products from Walex Products. Waste was taken to the local treatment plant.
A FUN TIME
Dutcher reports that everything went smoothly and even better than prior years as the company had recently moved into a new facility 40 miles closer.
Dutcher and his family — all dressed up in watermelon outfits — attended the event on Saturday. “We had a blast,” he says. “It’s a really good event. And I see everybody saying good things online.”
» THE JOB: California Watermelon Festival
» LOCATION: Lakeview Terrace, California
» THE PRO: Platinum PRO Portables, Sun Valley, California
