‘Star Trike’ Driver Enlivens Cast in Opening Hoopla for Del Mar Fair

Loch David Crane was drawing a crowd. He came roaring through the Del Mar Fairgrounds Friday afternoon, shaggy hair blowing in the breeze. Behind the wheel of his “Star Trike,” Crane was serving as grand marshal of a slow parade of characters and kooks.

Welcome to the Del Mar Fair.

Or, as the sombrero-waving statue of Don Diego proudly proclaims, “ Bienvenidos , amigos !” It was at the feet of Don Diego where Friday’s first-day-of-the-fair parade came to a screeching halt, and where Crane mopped his brow and pointed to his motorized “giddy-up mobile.” “This is a scale replica of the Star Ship Enterprise, made from Volkswagen parts,” said Crane, 41, who describes himself as a professional magician and two-time San Diego mayoral candidate. “I designed it while watching an episode of ‘Star Trek’ about 15 years ago. I ride it almost every day.”

Crane sees nothing unusual about that, nor about running for public office. He’s convinced that one of these days he’ll win and add his name to the pantheon of city stalwarts--Wilson, Hedgecock, O’Connor. . . .

“In my first race, I finished fifth out of a field of 17,” said the Point Loma resident, who teaches English at National University. “That means I beat out 12 other people!”

By that time, the crowd around Crane was getting big.

“Now, this is cool,” cooed Robert Thomas, 23, of East San Diego, taking in the Star Trike with covetous eyes. “ This I like.”

Thomas used the same tone of voice Donald Trump might use in eyeing a new hotel development, or which Shannon Weiner used most of the day in giggling to yet another blue ribbon.

Shannon, 5, had just won first prize in the Hula-Hoop contest when up came the gunny-sack race. She grabbed that too, but as for post-race interviews . . . well, Shannon was speechless.

Next-door neighbor and best friend Andrew Ross did, however, have plenty to say. Andrew was less than thrilled at finishing second to Shannon’s first--in both events--but, as if to atone, said pointedly, “You ought to know-- I’m five and a half .”

Andrew, Shannon and Capt. Star Trike were among the thousands who showed up on the first day of the fair, which has now run continuously since 1947. The fair has been around since 1880 and in its present location since 1936. (No fairs were held during World War II.)

Spokeswoman Diane Scholfield said first-day attendance figures won’t be available until early today. But last year, Scholfield said, the fair set an all-time record with slightly more than 1 million visitors crossing the turnstiles in 19 days. This year’s event lasts 20 days (through July 4), and, Scholfield said, another record is predicted.

Admission to the fair is $6 for adults, $3 for seniors 62 and older, $1 for children ages 6 through 12 and free for kids younger than 6. The 12,000 parking spaces are free but often get filled by mid-afternoon. So shuttle buses will run on weekends and on July 4 from Torrey Pines High School, UC San Diego and the Eastgate Technological Park.

No one complained about prices, but a few complained loudly about parking. It was not the lack of availability that riled them, but the mud.

“Where we parked, the mud was ridiculous,” said Marge Kearney, 68, of Oceanside. “I mean it, I’ll never come here again. With all the money they make, you’d think they could pave the parking lot.”

But Kearney’s friend, Nancy Bress, 65, visiting from New Jersey, said mud or not, no Yankee fair can top Del Mar’s.

“The flowers here are out of this world,” Bress said, “and the cleanliness! You just wouldn’t find this back East. You’d find trash and crud everywhere.”

This year, the sights and sounds of the fair range from restless Belgian draft horses to Dixieland jazz to hanging fuchsia plants to ham radios to hot tubs to a new line of law-enforcement vehicles.

And the food! One row included Philadelphia cheese steak sandwiches, Texas barbecue, Greek gyros, cinnamon rolls, fish tacos and hot fudge sundaes.

The rides range from the Crazy Dance to the Falling Star to the Quasar.

So why did Teresa Billick, a 7-year-old student at Solana Highlands Elementary School in Del Mar ride the roller coaster repeatedly?

“Because,” she said, “it’s incredibly scary!”

For those who enjoy a more soothing and sensual fair experience, one booth offered a free demonstration of a Pumi brush pad for hands and feet.

Gail Rutherford took the large, calloused, auto-mechanic hands of Thomas Stahl into her own and bathed them gently with soap, water and a Pumi brush pad.

“Feels good ,” Stahl said.

“Being a mechanic, your hands have gotten pretty rough,” Rutherford said with soothing seriousness. “And I bet your girlfriend likes smooth hands.”

“That’s true . . . “ Stahl said.

“Well, a package of this. . . . “

Hazel Hoffman, 83, of Encinitas was lying in an adjustable bed looking positively beatific.

“This is great!” she said. “Why, fellas, you just wouldn’t believe how comfortable this is.”

Duane Whiteley, 66, of Austin, Tex., was having his feet massaged and reacting about as cheerfully as Hoffman. Whiteley said he couldn’t get over how “Big!” the Del Mar Fair is, and he’s from Texas.

Hasn’t he been to the Texas State Fair?

“Yeah, but this one’s bigger,” he said.

“We used to have these foot massagers on Congress Avenue in Austin,” he said. “Brings back some memories. Why they ever got rid of those things, I’ll never know.”

But, as Peter Strother, 15 1/2, from San Dieguito High School put it, there’s only one reason--or maybe two--to come to any fair, whether for foot rubs, fuchsia or fish tacos.

“The fair’s just cool,” he said. “And fun too.”