It’s Quiet, Almost Too Quiet, on Eve of Fair’s Opening Day

As Susan Kleine looked over the exhibits in the agriculture department Tuesday, she scratched her head nervously.

Less than a day to go before the Ventura County Fair opened and all was going smoothly. More than 90% of the vegetables, tractors, scarecrows and avocado exhibits were in place.

This was too good to be true, said Kleine, the supervisor of the agriculture department.

Kleine was not alone.

Across the way at the floriculture exhibit, Barbara Schneider said she was way ahead of the game.

All of the exhibits had been planted, many of the flower decorations had been done and the mulch was being laid out by early afternoon. Even with an unprecedented number of 5-year-olds entering exhibits, planting their own soil and potting their plants, Schneider’s department was looking good and ready to go.

“Last year I had to get my whip out to get the [exhibitors] out of there by 3 p.m.,” Schneider said.

The 1996 fair opens today at 11 a.m. for nearly two weeks of carnival rides, animal shows, music and exhilarating fireworks. As many as 250,000 people are expected to cross through Seaside Park’s gates before the fair ends Aug. 25.

Still, the day before the masses arrive, the fairgrounds remained surprisingly calm.

No one, it seems, can put their finger on it. For some reason, this year’s fair has given organizers few last-minute headaches.

The day before the fair last year, publicist Devlin Raley was in a constant state of panic. They ran out of discount coupons, had to correct advertisements and sort out scheduling glitches.

“We didn’t have to put out brush fires last year--but rather major forest fires,” Raley said as he sat back in a comfortable chair in his air-conditioned trailer. “It’s a very curious feeling today.”

Even the weather has cooperated, with cool, windy conditions of about 70 degrees the past few days instead of last year’s muggy heat.

Not that Tuesday afternoon at Seaside Park wasn’t busy.

The food stands--which will offer curly fries, fried calamari, tacos, sweet corn on the cob and good old-fashioned hot dogs--were set up. Only the customers waiting in line to purchase the culinary treats were missing.

The majority of carnival rides had been set up by early afternoon, with only six to go, according to crewman Arthur Lowder. Things were going so well that Lowder and his buddies sat back to drink some ice-cold soft drinks and smoke cigarettes. “We’re just kicking back,” Lowder said.

The craft show and commercial exhibitors in the park’s pavilion were not as far along in setting up. Ben Shoemake, one of the few exhibitors setting up a display Tuesday, said he could not understand why people would wait until the last minute to organize their stands.

“Usually you want to be ready when the fair opens,” Shoemake said as he pulled boxes full of ceramic kitchenware from beneath a counter.

Most exhibitors throughout the grounds seemed to follow Shoemake’s advice.

After a week of laboring in his own garden exhibit, 11 year-old Donovan Roche was weary by Tuesday afternoon. His mother, Wyndra, entered her own sculpture garden in the floriculture department. As Donovan sat down to clean the dirt and sod from his tennis shoes, he said he hoped to win in his first-ever garden entry. But, for now, a good shower and some rest would do just fine.