Noon opening has TeWinkle full

June Casagrande

TeWinkle Park was overrun with more than 15 busloads of children

who showed up for Kids Day at the fair around 10 a.m. on Tuesday,

only to learn that the fair didn’t open until noon.

When fair officials learned there were large groups of children

waiting at the park, they opened the doors early -- shortly after 11

a.m.

It was a relief to youth group leaders like Murrfeyia Woods, who

at 10:30 a.m. were cheerfully struggling to keep their kids

entertained for the wait.

“We’re just here making the best of it,” said Woods, a youth

counselor from the YMCA in downtown Long Beach. She and counselor

Sheajuana Hunter worked for close to two hours to keep the 18

children in their group entertained while they waited for the fair to

open. The youngsters ate their packed lunches and did cartwheels in

the park to kill the time.

“Every year it opens in the morning,” Hunter said. “We didn’t know

it wouldn’t be open when we got here.”

They weren’t alone. The Long Beach YMCA group accounted for just a

small fraction of the hundreds of children in TeWinkle Park Tuesday

morning. No fewer than 15 full-size school buses, most of them marked

with “Orange Unified School District,” dominated the park’s parking

area as groups of children in matching T-shirts created large patches

of pink, blue, beige and yellow scattered throughout the park.

Orange County Fair official Ruby Lau said the confusion happened

because this year Kids Day is on Tuesday, when the fair opens at

noon. The fair is open Monday through Thursday from noon to midnight.

Friday through Sunday, though, the fair is open from 10 a.m. to

midnight. Last year, Kids Day was on Friday, which meant the day

started at 10 a.m.

“Obviously, lots of people made the same assumption,” said Gary

Overman, a counselor for Children’s World Preschool in Westminster,

gesturing to the many groups of children in the park. “I don’t know

the answer, but, obviously something could have been done to prevent

this.”

Kids Day takes place again next week, also on Tuesday. On this

day, children 12 and under get in free. The fair will open at noon on

that day.

Lau said that youth groups don’t make reservations or make known

to fair officials that they will attend. Thus, there is no way to

contact the people who plan to attend on Tuesday. She said that the

fair’s concierge line is the best resource for fair information. That

number is (714) 708-1934.

* JUNE CASAGRANDE covers Newport Beach and John Wayne Airport.

She may be reached at (949) 574-4232 or by e-mail at

june.casagrande@latimes.com.