VENTURA COUNTY FAIR : Fair Is on a Roll as Annual Parade Attracts 20,000 : Entertainment: A cavalcade of 123 entries entertains residents and merchants. Droves of visitors file into the fairgrounds.

Seven-year-old Ryan Bach was right in the middle of the action at the Ventura County Fair Parade on Saturday, and more than a little busy.

Behind the wheel of his miniature 4-foot-high, 10-foot-long 18-wheeler, Ryan put the pedal to the metal and roared down Main Street among the humongous floats, the souped-up cars and the prancing horses.

But as the youngest, and perhaps the shortest driver in the grand procession, he also had to strain his neck and peer out tiny truck windows just to catch a glimpse of the fanfare.

“I want to see what’s going on,” he said, swiveling his head about. “It’s pretty nice.” And then it was back to the task at hand.

Ryan’s adventure was just one of hundreds, as children and teen-agers joined adults in costumes for the biggest annual parade in the county.

With 123 entries--ranging from marching bands, fair queens and makeup-drenched dancers to hydraulic cars that bounced like pogo sticks--the cavalcade amazed some and amused others.

For little Ryan, handling the big rig was a giant-sized thrill “because I never drive that much in my life,” he explained matter-of-factly.

For an entranced Elizabeth Moffatt, 2 1/2, of Ventura, it took only the Mexican charros riding by on horses to send her into a frenzy. “I like that!” she said, pointing and waving.

Elizabeth also got quite a rise out of the sounds at the parade, bobbing up and down while planting a hand on a street pole for balance as she moved to the music.

“I told them we were coming at the last minute,” said Elizabeth’s mother, Susan, motioning to her two excited children. “I didn’t want to disappoint them if we didn’t make it.”

For others, it wasn’t a question of making it. The parade, which Ventura police said drew about 20,000 spectators, came to them.

“I just happened to be working and I took a break to watch,” said Rodney Minnier, who was painting the inside of his soon-to-be-opened restaurant, which sits a block from the parade kickoff site. “I didn’t know they started at this end of town this year.”

Minnier of Ventura, set up chairs on the wooden deck and inside the doorway of the yellow-and-gold house soon to be called the Golden Egg Cafe. A short time later, his 9-year-old daughter, wife and mother-in-law were on hand to take advantage of some of the best seats in the house.

“I’m very comfortable,” said mother-in-law Margaret Cook of Orange County, resting happily on a chair inside the doorway. “When you get to my age, you have to get in the shade.”

A few doors down, patrons of The Breakfast House who had staked out the tables next to the large bay windows ate their meals while taking in the sights and staying out of the streaming crowds.

“It fell into place very nicely,” said Ann Kelly Salahuddin of Ventura, putting down her fork and looking up to watch with her husband and son.

Peter Ransom, owner and manager of The Breakfast House, said the parade reduces some his Saturday morning business, because his regulars can’t find nearby parking in the Main Street area near Ventura High School, the parade’s starting point. But, he said, it’s only once a year and he doesn’t mind.

“It slows business down,” he said. “People who are sitting here now won’t get up and leave because they want to watch the parade.”

But a block up the street at Cafe Scoop, owner Grant Webster said the throngs of parade participants and parade-goers milling around Ventura High since the early morning more than tripled his business. “I’m very pleased,” he said. “I like to make money.”

Even Myrtle Taylor couldn’t be sent into a bad mood by the parade.

Taylor lives across the street from Ventura High, where a myriad of school bands, drill teams and baton twirlers from the county showed up early for warm-ups. Taylor, a bartender who worked until 2 a.m. Saturday, was awakened at 8 by a school band from Oxnard practicing on her front lawn.

“It’s crazy,” she said. “(But) at least you’ve got kids doing something instead of gang violence.”

After the parade, which stretched for about 1.6 miles down Main Street to the corner of California Street, droves of visitors filed in to the fairgrounds.

At an amateur rodeo at the Morgan Arena, spectators saw some of the best ropers in the Tri-County area compete to see which team of two could swing lassos around a bolting steer in the shortest amount of time.

“I’d like to do it,” said rodeo fan Rich Johnson of Santa Monica, who was at the fair with his wife and 8-year-old son. “I used to ride motorcycles in the desert. It’s the same kind of action. I like the rough-and-tumble stuff.”

Parade Winners

CATEGORY: WINNERS

Fair queen:

Christine Nilay of Moorpark, 20

Color Guard Juniors

1st Place: Cub and Boy Scouts, Ventura Ojai-Matilija District

Color Guard Seniors

1st Place: Forresters IOF Unit 1207

2nd Place: Vietnam Veterans

3rd Place: Al Malaikah Temple Pyramid Patrol

School Floats

1st Place: Buena High School Pep Squad

2nd Place: Ventura High School Pep Squad

3rd Place: St. Bonaventure High School Cheerleaders

Commercial Floats

1st Place: William Arguello

2nd Place: Ban-Dar

3rd Place: Hong Kong Inn

Adult Club Floats

1st Place: St. Patrick’s Day Parade Committee

2nd Place: Ventura Mothers of Twins Club

3rd Place: Country Lovers Western Dance Club

Youth Club Floats

1st Place: Boys & Girls Club of Ventura

2nd Place: Westpark Community Center

3rd Place: YMCA Indian Guides

Individual-Owned Antique Auto

1st Place: Black Beauty--1930 Lincoln Limousine

2nd Place: Irish American Club 1928 Model A

Club-Owned Antique Auto

1st Place: Ventura County Model A Club

Individual-Owned Classic Auto

1st Place: Automobile Club of Southern California Professionals

2nd Place: Ventura County Firefighters

3rd Place: Dial Security Fire Truck

Club-Owned Classic Auto

1st Place: Wolfburgs Finest VW Club

2nd Place: Classic Oldies Car Club

3rd Place: Dramatic Illusion Car Club

Miscellaneous--Novelty

1st Place: Santa Clara River Valley RR Historical Society

2nd Place: Bakersfield Police Motorcycle Drill Team

3rd Place: Skating Plus

Working Western (Lady)

1st Place: Christine Pelezak (National Park Service)

Working Western (Man)

1st Place: Bryan Sutton (National Park Service)

Charro Open

1st Place: Charros De Oxnard

Mounted Group

1st Place: Mounted Parade Unit (National Park Service)

2nd Place: Silver Mounted Patrol (Al Malaikah Temple)

Mounted Posse

1st Place: Ventura County Sheriff’s Posse

Fiesta Novelty/Costume

1st Place: Las Mujeres

2nd Place: J.D. Thornbury

Junior Equestrian

1st Place: Jennifer Lindsay

Horse Drawn Vehicle

1st Place: National Park Service Surrey

2nd Place: Ventura Harbor Village

3rd Place: Ventura County Museum of History

Side Saddle

1st Place: Sharon Lindsay

2nd Place: Casey Salas