Fair Features Everything but Antelope : Annual Alfalfa Festival Is Nothing to Sneeze at

The championship was drawing to a close. Which goat would emerge victorious?

They stood at the center of the arena, one dressed as a bride and another as a queen. There was a goat in diapers and a goat wearing a sheet. The judge couldn’t decide which costume was best, and some spectators were growing antsy.

Meanwhile, in a building at the other side of the fairgrounds, a dozen folks crowded around the Sparkletts Drinking Water exhibit, where various water coolers were displayed. The Sparkletts man handed out complimentary samples to people who’d stopped by in the 100-degree heat.

And a voice came over the loudspeaker:

“Good afternoon and welcome to Day 2 of the 50th Annual Antelope Valley Fair and Alfalfa Festival.”

Once again, the fair has arrived in Lancaster, running through Labor Day and bringing 11 days of felicity to the high desert. Tractor pulls, horse shows, church choirs and square dancers. A tattooing exhibit and a concert by Papa Doo Run Run.

“The fair . . . we deal with everything from Swine Queens to celebrities,” said Charmaine Coimbra, one of the event’s organizers.

Each August, almost 370,000 local residents attend these festivities. Since this year marks a golden anniversary for the fair, extra care was taken with preparations. Community members mailed in suggestions for a special theme, including: “We’re Pleased as Punch,” “Y’all Come,” “Hay, Look at Us Now” and “Homesickness.”

“There were some unbelievably bad names,” Coimbra said.

The organizers selected “A Gold Star Event,” so gold stars are displayed on signs throughout the grounds this year. As a special treat, one of John F. Kennedy’s limousines is here; it was trucked in from the Imperial Palace Casino in Las Vegas.

The midway is here, too, as it usually is. Set up on the northern edge of the fairgrounds, there’s a roller coaster and a Ferris wheel and a House of Fun. Young men in colorful aprons call out for passers-by to try their luck at the Dime Pitch or Ring-Around-the-Bottle. In a sideshow tent, a guy shows you jars containing dead, malformed animals--a two-headed baby shark, a baby sheep missing its lower jaw and a rabbit born with extra legs and ears.

“This here’s my favorite,” he says, “the two-faced cat.”

Across the way, you can pay 50 cents to see the 100-pound Killer Rat.

But that’s mere frivolity. At the Antelope Valley Fair, farming matters take precedence, and farming is serious stuff in this part of Southern California.

Last Saturday, there was a mule show and goat showmanship. Tractors raced in the arena. The featured speaker that evening was Connie Hamilton, who discussed “Handling Your Soil for Gardening.”

At the center of the fairgrounds, open-air pavilions housed goats, swine, horses, cows and chickens--all waiting to be judged in competition.

Ian Graber worked six months to get ready for the sheep judging. On a sweltering afternoon, he was carefully “fitting” his Suffolk lamb, using clippers to trim the animal’s coat. The 16-year-old from Lancaster had raised this lamb from birth, feeding it properly and training it to stand in a certain way for the judges.

“You have to hold it under the jaw and position its legs so the lamb looks wide from the back,” Graber said.

When it comes to lamb contests, he said, the animal that wins is the one that looks like it will yield the most lamb chops.

The goat costume contest was an entirely different story. Pygmy goats are used for this competition--they’re smaller and a bit calmer than normal goats, so it’s easier to force them into human clothes.

Eight or so contestants entered this year, and four were selected for the final round.

Trisha Hall and her goat Gitana were among the finalists. They were the reigning two-time champions and a favorite to keep the title. Hall begins preparing a month in advance, deciding on the right look for her goat and then shopping for appropriate apparel.

“Usually I’ll go shopping and I’ll see something,” said the 14-year-old. “Like, last year I wanted to dress her as a bride and I found a long slip that fit just right.”

This time, Hall had decided on dressing Gitana as a queen in a red velvet cap, golden scepter and high-standing crown.

Billie Poindexter, another finalist, said she made her goat’s costume the night before.

“ Mom made the costume,” interrupted her mother, Debra Barnhart.

Poindexter’s goat wore the white sheet with gold trimming. The 11-year-old Poindexter said the goat was “a flower girl.”

In the end, the audience decided on the winner. The goat that got the loudest applause was selected. Hall and Gitana--Queen goat for the day--reigned again.

“I was worried,” Hall said. “I thought for sure I wouldn’t win.”

And over at the cattle pavilion, teen-age boys and girls hurriedly groomed their cows. The beef showmanship contest was about to begin.