Magical week begins

“Magic in the Air” is what fair organizers say guests will find today as the 60th annual Porterville Fair opens its gates to the public.

With dairy goats and hog shows starting at 8 a.m, and the carnival, Fun Zone, and exhibits opening at 4 p.m., Susie Godfrey, consultant to the fair’s board of directors, said there is plenty of excitement for everyone.

Also on tap today is the fair’s official ribbon-cutting ceremony — scheduled for noon.

“We’re very excited about that,” Godfrey said. “We will have a lot of dignitaries and the owner of the carnival will be here to help us kick off our new partnership with them.”

And after a hectic Tuesday, opening day should be a breeze.

“When it comes to getting ready for the fair, [Tuesday] is the busiest day of the year,” Godfrey said. “We’re trying to make everyone happy, getting them what they need and taking care of equipment.”

With high temperatures expected by the weekend, Godfrey said she was busy obtaining extra coolers for the barns, as well as coordinating vendor arrivals.

“For some reason, they all came at once. We have them coming and going,” Godfrey said. “The livestock trailers are also coming and going. We have to keep them constantly moving. Then [on Wednesday] everything will be in place and we can start taking care of a whole set of different needs — those of our guests.”

On Tuesday, the same scenario played out again and again throughout the fairgrounds.

In the barnyard, 14-year-old Sarah Spuhler helped hang signs and fed her goats.

“I have four dairy goats this year, two Alpine and two crossbreds,“ Spuhler said. “I’m getting everything ready — putting the shaving down and taking care of the animals. Today is not a day to relax at all. I have to return later and wash the goats and clip them. Once the fair ends, that is when I can relax.”

Nearby, the Job’s Daughters’ concession stand had plenty of volunteers washing and slicing fresh strawberries, setting up pastries — pies, brownies and cookies that were baked on Monday — and squeezing juice out of lemons and oranges.

“We got moving about 7 a.m. and started early with the juice. Everybody is looking for the fresh-squeezed orange juice,” said Julie Blakely, Bethel Guardian of Job’s Daughters. “This year the oranges are very sweet, so that’s a good thing.”

In the old rabbit barn, Tony Hendley, director of ministries at Landmark Christian Center of Porterville, directed others in setting up old-fashion circus-style games for their fifth annual Kidz World.

Among the games being set up were bowling, miniature golf, dart boards and various bean bag tosses. In addition, face painting, popcorn and Kool-Aid will be offered, he said.

In the exhibit hall, thousands of red and blue ribbons adorned various students’ projects.

“We’re getting ready to judge the clothing,” Jody Scheer, clothing department chairwoman, said. “Everything else has been judged. We are displaying everything now.”

In all, more than 300 photographic entries, and close to 200 arts and crafts, fine arts and home furnishings will be on exhibit today. They were all judged Monday night and Tuesday morning.

“The judges write something positive on every entry,” Shelly Szypulski said. “We try to encourage the kids as much as possible and focus in on the positive.”

Out on the Midway, Butler Amusements General Manager Kurt Vomberg checked on the rides.

“The kids love this ride,” Vomberg said of the Jumping Jumbos ride. “It’s bright and colorful and it jumps out at you. Parents or older siblings can ride in it with younger children. This ride has close to 1,000 lights, but that’s nothing compared to our Fireball; the giant wheel has thousands and thousands of lights.”

Vomberg also stopped to look at two other rides — the Demolition Derby and the Chopper Hopper.

“At one time, 70 percent of all rides came from America,” Vomberg said. “Now, 70 percent of the rides are purchased in Europe. These two are from Italy. If you look at the lights and bright colors, you will see that they jump out at you. The downfall is that sometimes it is hard to get the parts in quickly. That’s why we keep literally thousands of parts in our inventory. We also have a certified welder on staff and a well-staffed shop.”

For that reason, Godfrey said, guests will be surprised.

“Our goal was to have a quality carnival and I feel we accomplished that,” Godfrey said. “We know this year is a little bit of a learning experience, and it might take people a little while to grasp all of the upgrades we have made. But we have a very clean, well-managed fair that will be a pleasant experience and more affordable than we have had in a long time.”