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Strawberry Fete Attracts Record Gate : Oxnard: About 85,000 take in the two days of festival activities, including 45,000 Sunday. Organizers are thrilled with the numbers.

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TIMES STAFF WRITER

You could have eaten off her face.

From forehead to chin, Oxnard resident Sue San Martin wore strawberry tart like a syrupy red mask after her 13-year-old son smashed the sticky sweet dessert in her face.

“She got me last year,” said Brian San Martin, explaining that he had waited a year to pay back his mom.

“He didn’t retaliate last year,” said the 46-year-old mother, wiping pie crust crumbs off her sunglasses.

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The San Martin family feud was just one of many pay-back opportunities for revenge-minded children at the California Strawberry Festival. An estimated 45,000 packed the festival site at Oxnard’s College Park on Sunday, the final day of the two-day event.

At the strawberry tart toss competition, 4-year-old Hana Lewkow of Culver City nailed her dad on the nose with a pint-sized pie.

“I got whacked,” Ray Lewkow said after the contest, which was one of the highlights of the 11th annual festival.

Despite four years of baseball experience, 9-year-old Devin O’Fallon’s dessert pitching went sour Sunday. The Hancock Park girl could not land one of her three tart tosses directly on her father’s face, but did manage to splatter him with strawberry filling.

“It was pretty messy and gooey,” Jim O’Fallon said. “But the two women in back scrub you down, so it’s not all bad.”

As first-time Strawberry Festival-goers, the O’Fallons were impressed with the variety of food booths, live entertainers and contests.

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“It’s fantastic,” O’Fallon said. “There are great games, and they (children) don’t get to throw pies at their parents every day.”

Festival organizers were thrilled with the teeming crowds, which surpassed previous festival attendance totals for the weekend event. In addition to Sunday’s crowd, about 40,000 people attended the event Saturday.

When the festival began in 1984 at Channel Islands Harbor, the two-day attendance total was 25,000. The festival has since been moved to College Park to accommodate the growing numbers.

This year, volunteers working in the festival’s 30-plus food booths were delighted by the large attendance, which equated to big bucks for their nonprofit groups.

“We’re going to do twice what we did last year,” said Mike Pettit, a parent volunteering in the Buena High School band’s funnel cake booth.

The Strawberry Festival is the band’s largest fund-raiser, said Pettit’s wife, Charlene. Last year, strawberry-topped funnel cake sales at the event generated $2,500 for the group.

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Oxnard residents Peter de Leon and David Zamudio donned giant red berry costumes in an attempt to lure passersby to Our Lady of Guadalupe’s food booth.

The La Colonia church supporters were selling strawberry tamales and other dishes to raise money for church retreats and building maintenance.

“We volunteer because we want to help the community,” Zamudio said, peering out from his Fruit of the Loom-style costume.

Artisans selling everything from kites to cutting boards and bird houses to baby clothes anticipated fat profits from the weekend’s crowds.

“You can’t miss with this many people,” said Ojai potter Frank Masserella, who brought his glazed jars and vases to the festival for the first time.

“I’ve been trying to get in for three years,” he said, explaining that the festival competition is fierce.

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For three years, Michelle James has claimed a spot among the dozens of artisans at the festival, selling her hand-painted T-shirts and children’s clothes.

“You can tell by the quality of the work that’s here that it’s a very well put together show,” the San Diego-based artist said. “It really is a big event.”

Festival Winners

Contest winners at the 11th annual California Strawberry Festival:

Shortcake-eating contest:

* Saturday--J. T. Fisher of Port Hueneme; 12 and under: Randy Miller, 12, of Point Mugu

* Sunday--Ernest Perez of Orange; 12 and under: Timmy Luehmann, 11, of Simi Valley

Strawberry tart toss:

* Saturday--Vince Cancasci of Oxnard; 12 and under: Ashley Burdette, 10

* Sunday--Timothy Gutierrez of Tujunga; Erin Mescher, 11, of Camarillo

10-K race:

* Male overall: Toby Freeborn of Columbia, Mo.

* Female overall: Josefina Sanchez of Oxnard

Best booth decoration: Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, Oxnard

Best food presentation: St. Anthony’s Church, Oxnard

Waiter / waitress race winner: Duke’s Place, Port Hueneme

Relay race: Robert Pelayo of Camp Pendleton and Eric Hildreth of Central City, Calif.

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