Fair Well

This year’s Ventura County Fair became just another summer memory Sunday night when the last fireworks exploded in the skies above Seaside Park, where the annual fun and food festival attracted more than 200,000 revelers during its 12-day run.

It was a fair to remember for the Hayward family of Moorpark. Kim, 17, won reserve grand champion for her steer, Rocky, and her 13-year-old brother, Ian, won the grand champion prize for his bred heifer, Milly. Showing off their accomplishments, the siblings led the annual 4-H Club parade of champions around the grandstand arena before the second day of the rodeo Sunday afternoon.

“They’re tired,” said their dad, Mike Hayward. “They’ve been working hard here all week.”

Kim said she’s looking forward to taking a long, hot shower at home after seven days of camping at the beach and taking care of her steer in preparation for the judging and auction last week.

Kristen Garcia, 14, of Fillmore, who led her grand champion market goat in the parade, said she just wants to go home.

“I want to lay on my bed and watch TV,” she said.

More than 3,500 fairgoers attended the rodeo, where amateur and professional cowboys took part in calf roping, steer wrestling, bareback bronco riding and other rodeo favorites.

Casey Dunham, 9, of Ojai watched the rodeo from atop his horse, Mister. Casey won a second- and third-place prize in the calf roping competition Sunday in Morgan Arena.

“I like to watch the bull riding,” he said, “because I do it.”

Thousands of fairgoers--many of them trying to escape blazing temperatures in inland communities--took advantage of Ventura’s cool ocean breezes and filled up for the last time on corn dogs and funnel cake.

Fair publicist Teri Raley said 31,000 people were needed Sunday for the fair to reach the 250,000 attendance mark. Final figures will be available today, but as of Saturday, 219,539 people had visited the fair.

But while attendance may have lagged--down about 10% from last year so far--revenue was up 7%, due mostly to this year’s $1 increase in the price of admission. Raley said she expects the fair to bring in more than $1 million in admission revenue, a first for the Ventura County event.

Despite problems ranging from the carnival opening two days late to the discovery of thousands of phony ride tickets sold to unsuspecting fair-goers, Raley is sad to see the fair end.

“I won’t even go out on grounds,” she said. “It makes me too sad.”

Michael Myers, 10, of Somis, who carried a trophy half his size that his 4-H club won for keeping their pens the cleanest during the run of the fair, had mixed emotions.

“I’m happy it’s over because I’m really tired, but I’m not because I’ve really enjoyed being here.”