Fair ‘89: Back to Country : Smaller Event Draws Families to New Site

Sure, the San Fernando Valley Fair has fewer rides this year. And maybe some people did get a little lost and go to where the fair used to be, in Northridge, and not where it is now, at the Hansen Dam Sports Complex.

But where else could you go to see pig races, pet baby calves and a llama, or ride an authentic covered wagon?

“I like the livestock,” said Dreena Marcos, 12, who came to the fair Friday with a group of 60 youths from a Sun Valley recreation center. “It’s interesting to look at them, except that they smell because, well, you know . . . nature calls.”

Fair organizers said the three-day event would be a “classic old-time country fair.”

The fair was ousted last year from Cal State Northridge, its home for 13 years, to make room for campus expansion. Gone from this year’s fair were carnival rides for adults and alcoholic beverages. That brought fewer teen-agers but more parents with small children.

‘Nice ‘Cause It’s Smaller’

“It’s nice ‘cause it’s smaller,” Kathy White of Sylmar said as she watched her best friend’s daughter Melissa, 4, ride the merry-go-round. “It’s not like Pomona where you have to fight the crowds.”

By far the largest audience of the day gathered to watch five 100-pound Yorkshire pigs race around an oval sawdust track. “We’re not in the business of raising fat pigs,” pig trainer Jerry Conklin told the crowd of about 200 people. “We’re in the business of raising slim, trim and fast pigs.”

In a dramatic contest, the five porkers bolted from a small steel gate, reaching the finish line almost in a dead heat. Cool Ham Luke was declared the winner by a snout over Barbara Q and Bunny Bacon.

Those exhausted by the excitement of the races could take a ride on the covered wagon that circled the 35-acre fairground. “It’s our own private little RTD,” fair administrator Ted Nauman said.

Adding to the country flavor was the small shack where blacksmith Ted Salyers plied his trade before a dozen curious onlookers.

“A lot of people think the art is gone,” the blacksmith said. “But it’s not.”

To prove his point, Salyers took a 1/4-inch steel rod from a bed of coals with a pair of firetongs. Using a hammer, chisel and anvil, in five minutes he transformed the red-hot rod into the face of a wizard.

“I wanna be a blacksmith,” said Tania, 5.

Her friend Danielle wasn’t as impressed. “You want to be anything,” she said.

It was a such a nice day at the fair--sunny but not too warm--that even some of the performers mingled with the crowd, enjoying the rides and exhibits. After finishing her first Polynesian dance show, Kalena Erickson took a break with her 5-year-old godson, Timmy, and visited the Great American Petting Zoo, a small barn where children mingled with fawns, chickens and goats.

“They’re kind of ferocious,” Timmy commented as he watched a goat fight his godmother for animal food from a vending machine. Indeed, the same goat soon went after Erickson’s lei.

“He got a flower!” Erickson yelled as she wrestled the goat for control of the necklace. “And it’s not a real flower either.”

Late Start

Not all went smoothly during the fair’s first day. Down the hill from the petting zoo, a rock group played “Jailhouse Rock” before a group of eight spectators. Sound technician John Holmes said the concert got started late because of some confusion among the band members. “They were lost,” Holmes said. “They went to Northridge first before coming here.”

Carolyn Kregear of Sylmar danced to the music for a while before taking her son, Vincent, 5, back to the rides and livestock exhibits.

“I liked the inexpensive jewelry and the crafts,” she said. “It’s not like the stuff you find in the malls. But mostly we’re having a good time doing what he wants to do.”

The fair will continue today and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Admission is $3 for adults and free for children 10 and under.