Cast of 600 Is Making a Fair-Well Appearance

Shading his eyes with a sweaty, grease-covered hand, Mike McPhee inspected his 195,000-pound baby: a 100-foot-high Ferris wheel being carefully assembled at the center of the Orange County Fairgrounds.

“This here,” the crew chief said, eyeing the workers swarming over the grounds, “this is the theater of pain.”

It sounded like a carnival pitch, but as McPhee spoke, there were no thrill-seekers around yet. Instead, he was describing the arduous setup efforts that go into transforming the fairgrounds into the 99th Orange County Fair, which will open Wednesday.

“With a ride like this, there’s some intense physical labor,” said McPhee, who boasts about his five-member crew and their safety record. “But it’s worth it. Our ride is right at the front of the midway, and people always get their money’s worth on it.”

Like McPhee’s crew, about 600 workers spent the weekend putting finishing touches on fair doings, from putting up concession booths and exhibits to applying new paint to parking lot curbs. All that work will pay off when the 12-day event’s gates open, said Jodi Allmond, the fair’s media secretary.

“Right now it’s like organized chaos,” Allmond said. “Our first full day of work was probably Monday, and since then everybody has been trying to get things put together and organized.”

Among those details are more than 50 rides, 60 food concession spots, competitive exhibits and events, a rodeo, races, a daily parade and 24 concerts at the fairground’s Arlington Theater.

The 1991 fair theme, “How Sweet It Is,” is a salute to bees and the honey industry. The special tie-in events include an act by entomologist Norm Gary, who will bring along one of the world’s largest beehives and cover his body with 300,000 bees while he plays the clarinet.

A spelling bee, a beehive hairdo contest and honey judging are also scheduled.

Throughout the fair’s exhibits, the yellow-and-black bee motif will be hard to miss. In the home arts and crafts building, a large, hand-stuffed bumblebee seems loudly out of place among the soft pastel afghans and conservative quilts vying for awards.

“We’ve been setting these up for days because you have to do it just right,” said schoolteacher Cheryl Houle, who attended seven previous fairs and will work this one. “You have to be careful because the people who make them come in, and if they’re not done quite right, they go crazy.”

Last year, the task was made more difficult by an earthquake, which stirred concern about fragile dolls and other delicate displays.

“I wasn’t here,” Houle said, “but they told me the supervisor came in all worried that the dolls’ heads might have fallen off, or their legs, but they were all fine. The only thing that happened during the whole quake, the only thing disturbed was (a stuffed) Humpty Dumpty had fallen on the floor.”

Barring earthshaking events, the biggest problem facing this year’s fair may be nasty traffic snarls. Two big-name concerts are scheduled for the nearby Pacific Amphitheatre: Gloria Estefan will appear Friday night, and Guns N’ Roses is scheduled July 25. And construction continues on the Costa Mesa Freeway next to the fairgrounds.

“We don’t think it’s going to be a really big problem,” fair spokeswoman Allmond said. “If I was one of the people coming, I would just afford myself a little more time to get here.”

Admission to the fair is $5 for visitors ages 12 to 65, $2 for children 6 to 12 and $3 for senior citizens, with those 5 or younger free. On five days--Thursday and July 22 through 25--visitors can buy an $8 wristband that allows unlimited admission to all rides from noon to 7 p.m.

Parking is $3, and car pools of four or more will get to park free. On Fridays and weekends, a free shuttle will transport fair-goers to the main entrance from the Automobile Club of Southern California’s free parking lot, at the southwest corner of Fairview Road and South Coast Drive.

Information about special public transportation arrangements is available by calling (714) 751-FAIR.

Why Johnny’ll Be So Long at the Fair

Some highlights of the 99th Orange County Fair, which begins at noon Wednesday in Costa Mesa and runs through July 28:

Concerts: Admission to the fair includes twice-daily concerts at the Arlington Theater. Featured performers will include Michael McDonald (Wednesday at 7 and 9 p.m.), the Little River Band (Saturday, 5 and 7 p.m.), Donny Osmond (July 22, 7 and 9 p.m.), Jan and Dean (July 23, 7 and 9 p.m.) and Air Supply (July 28, 5 and 7 p.m.). For information on performers and concert times, call (800) 899-8964.

Competitions: About 180 contests are open to visitors, testing skills as diverse as pie-eating and mural-painting.

Rides: Fair-goers can enjoy 50 rides, including the Global Wheel; the Sea Dragon, which looks like a Viking ship and swings riders up and down; the Himalaya, which spins riders through a dark tunnel, and varied kiddie rides. On five unlimited-ride days, Thursday and July 22 through 25, visitors can get on any ride from noon to 7 p.m. with an $8 wristband.

Races: Various motor sports are scheduled at the Coors Arena on the fairgrounds, including quad-vehicle and sidecar racing Thursday, motorcycle racing Friday and a motorcycle thrill show Saturday. All motor sports events begin at 8 p.m.