A special day at the fair

Danette Goulet

FAIRGROUNDS - Psst. Hey, want a tip?

Take it from Kelsey Gomez, 12: The two slides at the Kiddie Carnival

are not interchangeable.

“That is a kiddie ride,” she said with a scoff and nod toward the

multicolored Goliath Slide with the Chipmunks on the side. “If you want

the good bumps, you have to go on the Super Slide.”

That is just what she and her classmates did -- again and again and

again.

“On that last bump you go in the air,” said Kelsey’s classmate,

Jacqueline Sahlin, 11.

The girls are students in a special-needs summer school class at

Kaiser Elementary School in Costa Mesa and were two of nearly 6,000

people with special needs invited Tuesday for their own morning at the

Orange County Fair in Costa Mesa.

The Friends of the Fair was a 2 1/2-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.

“I thought it was fun -- really, really fun,” Jacqueline said with

emphasis.

In their time at the fair, Kaiser students had gone on every ride,

they said.

“The mirrors were cool, the Crazy Bus, the Dragon -- I screamed on

that one though,” Kelsey said. “But just for the fun of it.”

Others were a bit more selective in what they chose to ride, but had a

blast nonetheless.

“What was your favorite ride?” Becky Weaver signed to a couple of her

students from Taft Elementary School, which is a school in Santa Ana for

the deaf and hearing-impaired.

“That was -- the slide,” Jason Loaiza, 6, signed back while jumping up

and down.

Even with select rides closed for safety reasons, such as the bumper

cars, there were more than enough rides for everyone, and special shows

to boot.

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

between 9 a.m. and 12 p.m. are disabled themselves,” said Ginny Smith,

who is in charge of community entertainment and special events at the

fair. “High Hopes, local signers and Dancing With Insight, which is blind

people doing ballroom dance.”

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

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 sticker to show vendors and ride operators,”

Smith explained.