More than a fair morning

Danette Goulet

ORANGE COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS -- Students lessons in summer school

Tuesday: spinning looping rides are nauseating and everybody loves the

huge potato sack slide at the Orange County Fair.

“Slide, slide, slide, slide,” Brandon Johnson, 9, chanted his vote for

the next ride for his class to tackle.

Children in special day summer classes from Smith and Hawes elementary

schools enjoyed a break from their normally academic schedules Tuesday

morning to take a ride on the wild side at the fair.

A gathering of nearly 6,000 people were invited to a nearly crowd-free

morning known as Friends of the Fair.

The Friends of the Fair was a two-and-a-half hour window, before the

fairgrounds opened to the public at noon, when hundreds of schools,

hospitals and organizations serving physically or mentally challenged

individuals were invited to enjoy the rides, games, animals and treats of

the kiddie carnival and park.

“We slow [rides] down and not all are open,” said Ginny Smith, who is

in charge of community entertainment and special events at the fair.

“[Workers] have done a wonderful job of helping them get on and off the

rides.”

For Johnson and his 10 classmates, those two hours were barely enough

time to tackle half of the rides, but more than enough time for them to

have a blast.

On the way in, students passed an array of animals on display, from

cows and donkeys to turkeys and a swarm of honeybees.

“Ew, gross,” exclaimed Warren Hoyle, 10. “What are you doing?”

“Petting a llama,” replied 10-year-old Chance Mesquite,

matter-of-factly adding a shrug of indifference at his classmate’s look

of horror.

Some things clearly weren’t for everyone.

Several students and a couple of teachers decided to sit out when a

group went on the Silver Streak, a circular lunging coaster that sped

first forward then backward on a track that dipped and inclined

repeatedly.

Among among those who did go on it, some wished they hadn’t.

Most all students braved the big Ferris wheel.

“It was good riding on the Ferris wheel, because we went high up and I

could see everything,” Chance said, admitting that he was a little scared

when it stopped and rocked a bit at the top.

The fun house, the house of mirrors and a long wait for the Goliath

Slide finished out the morning before it was time to get back on the bus.

“Just one more ride,” students pleaded.

But it was time to go and they hadn’t even seen the entertainment for

the day.

“We have special entertainment for them, in fact all the entertainment

between 9 a.m. and 12 p.m. are disabled [performers] themselves,” Smith

said. “High Hopes, a local signers group, and Dancing With Insight, which

is blind people doing ball room dance.”

Besides the 7,400 groups that the fair staff invited, they also got

calls from families and individuals wishing to attend the special day.

“People call for information about a month ahead and are preregistered

and sent a free pass and a sticker to show vendors and ride operators

part of the program,” Smith said.