Countywide : No Barriers to Having Fun at Fair

Some of the children couldn’t rise from their wheelchairs to dance, and others had to use sign language to join in sing-alongs they couldn’t hear. But singer Bill Ouderkerken said he couldn’t imagine a better audience than the one Tuesday morning at the Orange County Fair.

“I love singing to handicapped kids. They smile so much, and they love the music so much,” said Ouderkerken, a member of Hi Hopes, a band composed of developmentally disabled musicians. The concert was part of the 100th Orange County Fair’s annual Friends of the Fair Day, which opens the fairgrounds three hours early exclusively for the disabled.

Free admission and rides drew more than 7,800 disabled adults and children to the morning event, which is in its eighth year at the fair, spokeswoman Jill Lloyd said. For each of those eight years, the special opening has featured Hi Hopes, a nine-member group of Hope TMR in Buena Park.

“It’s kind of like coming back to your hometown,” said Doris E. Walker, band director and teacher at the Buena Park school. “We see so many familiar faces, kids we see each year. For many of them, this is a day they’ll remember for months, something they’ll be talking about for a while. For the younger ones, it’s a magic time.”

While they may have been a little too old for that type of wide-eyed wonder, several of the 61 teen-agers and young adults from the Donald S. Jordan Intermediate School said they, too, will have fair moments to recount.

“I really liked the Gravitron. It went really fast,” said Robert, 20, a developmentally disabled student at Jordan. Mary Carlson, the teacher accompanying Robert and about a dozen of his classmates, said the rides were by far the highlight of their visit.

“We had to practically drag them away to get them to go to lunch, they just wanted to keep riding,” she said. “They really look forward to this day. We could come to the fair on any day, but setting aside time just for them like this is great. It makes them more comfortable, and they are with their friends and peers.”

Regular admission to the fair is $5 for adults and $3 for senior citizens. Children under 5 are admitted free, while 6- to 12-year-olds are charged $2. The parking charge is $3, but car pools with four or more people may park for free.

The fair, which runs through July 26, is open noon to midnight Monday through Wednesday and 10 a.m. to midnight Thursday through Sunday. For more details or shuttle service information, call (714) 751-3247.