Butterflies Fit Right In

As opening-day attractions went at the Orange County Fair, she liked it better than the funnel cakes, the roasted corn, the spectacular, dizzying rides. Better even than the squealing pigs, which until now were her favorite.

Slipping through the netted flaps of the large, green camping tent, enticed by a sign that beckoned: “Wish upon a butterfly,” she was smitten the moment a delicate, burnt-orange creature alighted on her finger.

“I’ve never really seen them up so close before,” said Rebecca Alder, 13, of Fullerton. “It’s so cool. I can actually touch it.”

It was, in a fairgrounds otherwise popular for its huge heifers and stomach-turning roller coasters, a sublime and irresistible exhibit. And so they streamed into the tent -- teenagers, mothers and cotton-candy streaked toddlers -- to see six kinds of butterflies, including painted ladies and zebra longwings.

Their popularity pleased Travis Moraine, 25, the traveling butterfly man who is discovering people’s fascination with the insects while touring California. “You see butterflies -- but you never really see them,” he said.

And though it was their first stint at the fair, the butterflies seemed to fit right in with the event’s world of whimsy. There was, for instance, magician Frank Thurston, distinctive in his black top hat, and veteran mime Mark Wenzel, caked in white makeup and waving a little white umbrella.

“You can do silly things here you can’t do at a theme park,” Wenzel said before disappearing into the crowd on his unicycle.

Indeed, fair-goers can ride an elephant, pat the world’s purportedly largest horse, gawk at a giant pumpkin and stroke a water buffalo.

Such staples have brought May Pro, 80, back year after year. Old-timers know her as the baked-potato lady because she helps her nephew sell the large Idaho spuds.

“I just love the people,” Pro said.

Nearby, Tony Boghos, 21, worked at his cousin’s corn-on-the-cob stand, hawking the ears as “a little bit of heaven in every bite.”

“A fair’s not a fair without corn on the cob,” he said. And there are all the pretty girls, he said.

Colleen Weed, 22, brought a cousin from Indiana to the fair.

“There’s always something for everybody,” Weed said as they awaited their turn on the Hydro Slide, a water-based roller coaster. Her boss, a Los Angeles lawyer, gave the office the day off Friday to go to the fair.

Whether it was nibbling on sickly sweet fried Oreos or sausages on a stick, sipping a home-brewed beer or marveling at stitched quilts and intricate wood carvings, fair-goers didn’t lack for something to do.

“There’s not just one thing that brings you here,” said Tony Faulhaber, 70, of Orange. As a teenager, he came to win teddy bears for his girlfriends, he said.

But now he was content to just stroll through the Floral and Garden Pavilion.

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Hours and prices

The Orange County Fair runs through July 31.

Admission prices*

General (13 to 59 years): $8

Seniors (60 years+): $6

Children (6 to 12 years): $4

Children (5 & younger): Free

*Children 12 and younger are admitted free Tuesdays. Seniors pay $4 admission Thursdays.

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Hours

Tues.- Thurs.:Noon to midnight

Fri. - Sun.: 10 a.m. to midnight

Mondays: Closed

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Parking in fairground lots

Vehicles: $5

Buses, limousines: $10

Preferred: $10

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Saturday and Sunday only

Free parking and shuttle service from 10 to 1 a.m. from:

* The Automobile Club of Southern California lot

* The Experian parking structure on Anton Boulevard

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Additional information

Phone: (714) 708-3247

Website: www.ocfair.com

Source: Orange County Fair and Exposition Center

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Today’s highlights at the O.C. Fair

Hours: 10 a.m. to midnight.

Location: 88 Fair Drive, Costa Mesa.

More information: www.ocfair.com or (714) 708-FAIR (3247)

11 a.m.: Cappodocia Folk Dancers.

11 a.m.: Chinese Lion Dancers.

Noon: Ballet Folklorico Alegria.

1 p.m.: Japan Karate -- Do Genbu-Kai.

2 p.m.: Country music by Julie Delaney and Raleigh Street.

2 p.m.: Russell Bros. Circus.

4 p.m.: Voice and Guitar of Fernando Olivares.

5 p.m.: Grampa’s Grass -- Rock ‘n’ Roll Band.

7 p.m.: Oxen Team Presentation.

8 p.m.: 5th Annual “Orange Crush” Demolition Derby.

Source: Orange County Fair & Exposition Center

Los Angeles Times