Head ‘Em Up, Move ‘Em Out . . . Right Down Fairview Road

The Orange County Fairgrounds will stage a cattle drive on Friday that has a better driver-to-drivee ratio than most school car-pools.

Beginning at 10 a.m., some 125 riders will guide 250 Brahma crossbreeds from their holding pens at Costa Mesa High School to their temporary quarters in the fairground’s main arena. “Rental cattle” from a Brawley cattle broker, the animals will be used in the world championship team penning events on Saturday and Sunday at the fair, according to spokeswoman Georgia Cluver.

Fair officials recruited members of the 4-H and FFA youth groups and the Cowboy Lawyers Assn., as well as local politicians and others, to participate in the drive, a new event that ties in with the 1994 fair’s “Saddle Up for Fun” theme, Culver said.

The drive route runs for about a mile along Fairview Road roughly between Adams Street and Fair Drive, beginning at the high school’s farm area and turning in at the fairgrounds’ Princeton gate. Once on the fairgrounds, the animals will be driven past the carnival and into the arena. The whole affair should last about one hour, Culver said.

Keep a few questions in mind when choosing a particular grass: Is it right for your climate? For best viewing, visitors should enter the fairgound’s main lot on Fair Drive and follow the signs to a special parking area. The lot opens at 7 a.m. Parking is $3, but on that day, vehicles with horse-type names (Bronco, Pinto, Mustang--you get the idea) park free.