Family Again Takes First Place (in Line) at the Fair

Call them the first family of the Ventura County Fair.

The Stewarts of Simi Valley have been first to pass through the turnstiles at Seaside Park on opening day of the fair every year for about the last two decades.

Wednesday was no exception, and the clan stepped up the tradition by wearing matching royal-blue T-shirts, their family name emblazoned across the back. There were 15 of them this year, representing four generations of Stewarts.

“It gives us an excuse to get everyone together,” said Jim Stewart, who brought along his wife, his parents, his four children, two of their spouses, three grandchildren, a brother and a nephew. “We decided to dress alike this year so everyone would know we were together.”

It all began in the early 1980s, Stewart said. The family didn’t know what time the fair opened and arrived about 9 a.m., two hours early. Fair officials at the gate kidded them about it, and the Stewarts decided they liked the attention.

“It became a tradition,” Stewart said.

Devlin Raley, fair spokesman, said he remembers that first year, and how the elder Stewarts were “probably as excited as any 6- or 8-year-old waiting to get in.”

Looking at the family crowding up to the red ribbon, Raley observed, “This certainly reflects the spirit of the event.”

Granddaughter Kaelie Johnson, 5, snipped the ribbon using a pair of oversized scissors, and the family began the day with a group photo.

It was going to be a long day, as they planned to stay through the nighttime fireworks.

“I brought quarters for the shoe machines,” said Vanessa Becker, a Stewart daughter.

As the morning marine layer burned off, fair-goers began exploring their festival favorites, from the food court filled with fried things to the midway packed with rides and carnival games.

With the fair’s longtime midway operator, Ray Cammack Shows, absent this season because of a conflicting schedule with Orange County, the big question was: Would the rides be as good as they have been in past years?

Judging from the reactions of several youngsters sporting unlimited-ride passes on their wrists, the answer appeared to be a resounding yes.

“Woo! That one makes you fly!” said Brandon Cooke, 9, of Westlake Village after zooming down the super-slide called Fast Trax.

Tara Roberston, 11, of Pennsylvania, who was visiting her Camarillo relatives, was breathless as she stumbled off the Mega-Drop, a ride that lifts participants about four stories before dropping them suddenly.

“It was so scary because I didn’t know when it was going to drop,” she said.

Ventura teenagers Keli Donovan and Carissa Ramos said they couldn’t complain about the new look of the midway, considering that their favorite, the Zipper, remained among the attractions.

“It’s different this year, but it’s pretty much the same,” said Carissa, 15. “I mean, it’s the fair.”

And it’s not the fair without Uncle Leo, a.k.a. Leo Vanoni, 88, who has set up his barn of animals at the fair for 48 years.

The main attraction, as always, was a giant sow with a dozen newborn piglets squirming close by.

Serafin Flores, 3, of Oxnard, could not have been more delighted.

“Look, mom, that’s me! That’s me!” he said, pointing to one of the piglets. And then, pointing to the mama pig, he added, “And that’s you!”

His mother, Rosemary Arroyo, could only giggle.

But while some fair-goers opted for tradition, others tried new things, whether a fried Oreo cookie -- the verdict: delicious! -- or a 130-foot bungee jump.

Joe Malone, 14, of Ojai, was among the first to try the bungee jump this year, winning a free ride offered by the operators as a kind of break-the-ice incentive.

“Oh, man, it was awesome,” Joe said. “It felt like you were floating.”

Things were a bit calmer in the exhibition halls, as fair-goers browsed booths and entries in arts and crafts, photography, table-setting, baking and quirky collections.

In the commercial building, people listened as salesmen tried to get them to buy a fancy new chopper and as Republicans and Democrats urged them to register to vote.

In the agriculture building, Robin Davis, 37, and her dad, John Pennington, 64, of Oxnard chilled out to the mellow country tunes of Stephen Lord. The father-daughter pair have skipped out on work to come to opening day of the fair every year since 1980.

And they each have a cowboy hat full of fair pins to prove it. They hadn’t bought this year’s yet, but Davis had already made space on the front of her hat.

“What can I say?” she said with a smile. “I’m a fair geek.”