Food, Fun, Rides--Fair Enough : Amusements: The first-day attendance at annual event sets a record, as people come to party, people-watch and spend time with their families.

The barkers barked, the children screamed and the day was warm, clear and filled with the smell of popcorn as the Orange County Fair opened to record crowds Friday.

More than 16,000 had shown up by 6 p.m., breaking last year’s first-day attendance by nearly 1,000 people.

Some came to party: “It’s a fun place to come, spend money, watch guys--and they have great rides,” said Stacy Harris, 15, of Huntington Beach.

Some came for the memories: “I used to come here as a little girl all the time. It’s getting a lot bigger and a lot more commercial, but it’s still a lot of fun,” said 42-year-old Everal Hathaway, a Moreno Valley resident.

And some came because they got paid: “We get $4.85 an hour. We pick up trash, answer people’s questions. It’s a paying job,” said Phillip Suva, a sunburned, somewhat melancholy 14-year-old fair employee from La Mirada.

The contests were in full tilt. South Carolina sent the seeds that grew the biggest corn stalks, winning this year’s Corn Derby. Amanda Popelar, 3, of Santa Ana, gobbled up a bag of greasy fries faster than any of her competitors to win the 4-and-under french fry eating contest.

And Jeff Block, 36, of Tustin, spent his 22nd day going around in circles in an attempt to break the world record for most consecutive days aboard a Ferris wheel.

“Everybody wants to ride with the guy that’s going to break the record,” said Steve Trombly, 16, who works the ticket booth at the Ferris wheel. “They all ask about him.”

Not everybody thought opening day was great, though.

Pete Smith, 72, has been barking to fair-goers for 25 years, luring them with a throaty cry to play his roll-down game. Contestants try to slip rubber balls into numbered slots to score points. Thirty-one gets you a big stuffed dinosaur.

“Business is very bad, way off. I think it’s the economy,” said Smith as he chewed and spat sunflower seeds. A man and a woman passed by. “Hey, win or lose, you get a prize!” he shouted. They walked on.

“The reason I don’t retire, this is a good thing, it keeps the mind focused,” he said.

But if the games were slow, the rides weren’t. Lauren Hathaway, 8, had a good time going on the rides that “make mommy sick,” her mother, Everal, said.

“They were scary,” said Lauren, a tiny, flying blue unicorn painted on her cheek. “I liked ‘em.”

Fair worker Michael Collins said his ride, the Orbiter, was packed most of the day. “We’re fairly busy for the first day,” he said. “People get real dizzy but when they come off they say they enjoy it.”

One who did was Cindy Wakeland, 15, of Huntington Beach. She said the ride, made up of pods on the end of arms that fling people side to side and up in the air, was a blast.

“You get plastered to the walls,” she said. “It’s an intense ride.”

Complaints from fair-goers were few. Some said the lines for food were too long. Others said the $3 parking fee and $5 adult admission were too expensive. But most said it was what a fair should be: fun, food and family.

“We do this every year,” said Ed Nance, 32, surrounded by his two kids, Laura, 5, and Kevin, 2, and his wife, Cindy, 31. “We have a good time.”

*FAIR SCHEDULE: B3