Fair’s Hometown Feel

Art Amelio figures if he had fallen asleep at the 1956 Ventura County Fair and awakened at this year’s event, which begins Wednesday, he’d just rub his eyes, stretch his legs and pick up where he left off.

“I would definitely know where I was,” said Amelio, who attended the fair as a child, about 40 years ago. “It is pretty much the same place, only better.”

And that, Amelio said, is what officials at the Seaside Park fairgrounds have in mind. Amelio, deputy general manager of the park, said the goal is to keep the annual fair looking new and improved, while maintaining its traditional and familiar hometown feel.

“If anything, the amount of change that has occurred in the 14 years I have been here is just a little updating,” said Amelio, who has served as deputy general manager for eight years. “But I’m more impressed with how much it has stayed the same. We’ve maintained the identity, while updating it to have attractive and new things for the 1990s.”

The 1996 fair will feature carnival rides, food booths, food and craft contests and exhibits, livestock events and high-profile entertainment. During its 12-day span, the fair is expected to draw about 250,000 people, the overwhelming majority from Ventura County.

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Seaside Park, located on the coast between Main and California streets, is owned by the state and run by the 31st District Agricultural Assn., which falls under the Department of Food and Agriculture.

Though there is disagreement as to when the inaugural Ventura County Fair was held, the consensus is 1874, at the fairground site, at what was then a one-mile horse track known as Ventura Trotting Park.

Back then the fair simply consisted of racing and trotting events. The next year, livestock events were added. The following year, grand balls were held in downtown Ventura as part of the festivities. In 1915 chariot races came along. In 1981 big-name headliners were added to the schedule.

Name acts in ensuing years included the Beach Boys, David Copperfield, Tina Turner, Santana, Linda Ronstadt, the Judds and Julio Iglesias. These acts required a separate admission, about $8-$18 each, until 1991, when the additional ticket price was dropped.

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This year, comedian Gallagher, Wayne Newton, Patty Loveless, Gladys Knight, Willie Nelson and Pat Boone are among those who will take center stage.

“I think people expect the fair to keep pace with the world,” said Teri Raley, who has handled the fair’s publicity since 1980. “I think with anything, people want you to do better next time. They always want you to top your act.”

But despite the apparent emphasis on upgrading the entertainment from year to year, Raley said the fair’s success can be attributed as much, if not more, to the non-headliner activity.

“They [fair officials] have never focused on the entertainment. They’ve just maintained an insistence that the program remain balanced. They’ve always tried to keep it traditional,” Raley said. “Interestingly enough, 5,000 Ventura County residents will bring more than 20,000 items to the fair to be judged and exhibited and that’s a huge statement.”

From muffins to table decorations to art projects to cows, the exhibition venues will be packed, just as they have been since the fair’s early days. The exhibition sites themselves have evolved from tents to remodeled Quonset huts and buildings. “Showcasing is the key word,” Amelio said. “I think the fair functions as a showcase for the community it serves.”

Longtime fair volunteer Jymmye Hitch of Ventura said it is this showcasing that helps the Ventura County Fair cling to its community-oriented roots.

“It’s a very hometown flavor and this is how we hoped it would be kept,” said Hitch, who first helped out at the fair in 1947. “It’s wonderful to have whole families coming and bringing their entries--the mothers with their canned goods and the children with their paintings.”

Bill Clawson, director of the Ventura Convention & Visitors Bureau, said the balance between traditional and modern fair activities is very much in keeping with the times.

“I think in the 1980s it was more important to have headline acts. In the ‘90s, people are discovering what county fairs are all about,” he said. “It’s now important to have a broad range of headline acts, cows kids can pet, rides they can ride, hot cinnamon rolls.”