BIGGER GARDEN: Horticulture is big at this...

BIGGER GARDEN: Horticulture is big at this year’s Orange County Fair: It opens today and runs through July 23 with the theme “Welcome to Our Garden Party.” Last year, fair-goers consumed 83,000 corn dogs and 35,000 slices of cheese bread. And annual revenue is up about $750,000 since 1990. . . . One reminder: You do not have to bring a can of food to get in the gate. But fair officials are hoping you will, for charity.

WOLFMAN’S HOUR: The Rev. Robert H. Schuller of the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove will interrupt a hectic speaking schedule to preside at a memorial service Saturday for a devoted fan--Wolfman Jack, who died last Saturday. Schuller will fly to Belvidere, N.C., for services for the colorful 57-year-old deejay, whose real name was Robert W. Smith. . . . Wolfman Jack’s friends say he was an ardent follower of Schuller’s TV ministry, “The Hour of Power.”

FLAG FAREWELLS: If the Old Glory you flew on the Fourth is too worn and tattered for another holiday, the Huntington Beach Historical Society would like to have it. It’s holding a flag retirement ceremony Sunday at the Newland House on Beach Boulevard. . . . “Our flag deserves to be disposed of in a dignified matter,” says Mary Clark, who will conduct the ceremony. “It must not be discarded in some old trash can.” The society will turn the flags over to the Marines for disposal.

LESS FEDERAL: When you think of Rockwell International in Seal Beach, all those huge government defense or aerospace contracts come to mind, right? This month’s Forbes magazine singles out Rockwell for praise for holding its own in the business world despite a drop of $4 billion in government contracts since 1986. . . . It did it mainly through 43 acquisitions. Says Forbes: “Rockwell may well turn out to be that rare conglomerate where the whole is worth more--not less--than the sum of its parts.”

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Pretty Fair Numbers

Orange County Fair gross revenue has jumped 37% since 1990:

1994: $2,766,000

Source: Orange County Fair Board