Reaping Fun at Harvest Festival : Afternoon for the Disabled

Although Ronald McDonald and a host of other familiar characters roamed nearby at Irvine’s Harvest Festival on opening day, 10-year-old Lisa Raymond seemed to only have eyes for a giant red balloon that hovered above the sawdust-covered grounds.

“I love bringing Lisa here each year because she is so happy and excited when she sees all the other children that are like her,” Janice Raymond, 34, of Anaheim, said of her daughter, who suffers from Down’s syndrome.

Lisa was one of 2,000 disabled children who on Friday were the first to take part in this year’s three-day Harvest Festival, set up on a strawberry field at Irvine Center and Culver drives.

“We felt it was a good thing to give people with special needs an opportunity to move around freely during the festival,” Bee Gee Graham said of the decision to open the festival for three hours Friday afternoon just for people with physical and mental handicaps.

“It can be so difficult for them in crowds with the wheelchairs and medical equipment, so this gives them a chance to enjoy what’s happening,” Graham said.

The 14th annual Harvest Festival opened to the general public Friday at 6 p.m. and will be open today from 9 a.m. to midnight and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Admission is $2 and free for children under 6.

But during the special session Friday afternoon, children from more than 60 schools and classes for the handicapped throughout Orange County enjoyed free admission, free food and entertainment.

Chance to Participate

“I think this gives us, the teachers, the opportunity to take the kids places where many of their parents don’t,” said Annette Cleveland, a teacher at Salk Elementary School in Anaheim. “It lets us show them how to use what we’ve taught them in the classroom . . . and gives them a chance to participate in a positive learning experience.”

The annual festival is sponsored by the Irvine Harvest Foundation with the residents of Irvine in mind.

“We try to sponsor an family-oriented festival that will offer the people in Irvine who don’t usually get a chance to see each other the opportunity,” said Dick Fisher, foundation president. “We don’t advertise outside of Irvine because we like the idea of doing something for the people of this city.”

Each year, the 20 members of the nonprofit foundation spend 10 months planning the festival and enlist the help of more than 300 community volunteers.

“That’s what’s great about this,” Fisher said. “Everyone volunteers their time and energy for the festival, and we raise money at the same time.”

The 170 booths that were reserved this year offer everything from popcorn and cotton candy to tips on how find the perfect mate.

Many of the local organizations that rent booths to sell homemade or donated merchandise during the festival depend on it as one of the major sources of fund-raising during the year.

Major Fund-Raiser

“We are using this as a major fund-raiser for our church,” said Nate Wisely, president of the East Walnut Avenue Church in Orange. “We are going to move to a new location soon and hope to raise about $3,000 in the next two nights to aid that. Being a part of this helps the community, as well as providing entertainment.”

The Irvine Harvest Festival Foundation uses the money it makes during the festival to offer scholarships to Irvine high school students. Six students received $1,000 scholarships last year.

Although festival officials expect the attendance to reach 40,000 this year, a 5,000 increase over last year, they expressed concern that costs will make it tough to cover all expenses.

“Everything has gotten more expensive,” Fisher said. “This year our insurance was more expensive. Renting the tents cost more, and we had to raise the admission price 50 cents. I hope we can at least break even, but you can’t ever tell how things are going to turn out.”