Kickoff to fair quickly approaching The 112th...

Kickoff to fair quickly approaching

The 112th annual Orange County Fair will be held from July 9 to

Aug. 1 at Orange County Fair and Exposition Center. The theme is

“Jammin’ at the Fair” and among the attractions will be the Great

Grapes building featuring wine makers and wine tastings as well as a

variety of music such as Latin, country, blues and oldies. Featured

performers include comedian Carrot Top as well as parody singer

“Weird” Al Yankovic.

“We have tried to blend some very exciting entertainment with our

traditional features,” said Becky Bailey-Findley, the general manager

and CEO of the Orange County Fair.

The fair will be open Tuesday to Thursday, from noon to midnight,

and Friday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to midnight. The fair will

be closed on Mondays.

General Admission is $7, $6 for seniors 55 and over, $3 for

children 6 to 12. Children 5 and under receive free admission.

There is also a special promotion throughout July: anyone who

brings one new or three gently-used children’s books to any Orange

County Barnes & Noble will earn free fair admission and one carnival

ride.

Community cleanup slated for September

The “Neighbors for Neighbors” community clean-up event will be

held in Costa Mesa on Saturday, Sept. 18.

The program, celebrating its 12th year, was created to help

low-income residents better their homes and to aide community

improvements. If you’re interested in making donations to the

program, call 714-754-4894. For additional information, contact

Jacqueline Reeves at 714-754-4870.

Nature center names its volunteer of the year

The Environmental Nature Center announced that Marty Clover is the

organization’s Volunteer of the Year. Clover, of Costa Mesa, earned

the award for his work planning the center’s new desert oasis plant

community. Clover also moved boulders and provided water for plants.

The center’s Appreciation Award was given to Acton B. Taylor,

whose estate left the center $435,000, the largest gift in the

organization’s history.

Schools do well in poster contest

Orange County elementary school students were given the

opportunity to show off their artistic talents and creative writing

skills in the 2004 “Water is Life” poster and slogan contest. St.

Joachim Elementary School had two contest winners, fourth-grader

Kimberly Watanabe for her poster and third-grader Carter Yonkers, for

his slogan.

Other slogan winners include Grand Prize winner Dymond Miller, as

well as Ashley Bowie, Justin Daerick, Michael Acevedo and Jullian

Gallegos, all first-graders at Vineyard Christian School.

Winning posters and slogans will be printed in the 2004-05 “Water

is Life” calendar which is given to all Orange County schools and

teachers.

College soccer field gets new artificial turf

Orange Coast College recently completed the installation of a new

artificial turf soccer field.

The new surface is FieldTurf, the same artificial surface used by

the NFL. The turf is made of recycled tires and a mixture of silica

sand and crumb rubber. The new field, which is up to the standards of

FIFA, soccer’s global governing body, cost $1.3 million.

Book festival slated for October at OCC

The Orange County Children’s Book Festival will be held on Sunday,

Oct. 3, at Orange Coast College from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

This free festival will feature books, authors, exhibitors and

entertainment. Activities are planned including face painting,

clowns, musicians, reading and drawings. There will also be games,

food, lectures, workshops, science-lab activities, performing arts

and demonstrations.

Fountain Valley college moving to Costa Mesa

The University of Phoenix has signed a $7.8 million dollar lease

for its new campus, the Fountain Valley learning Center, at the South

Coast Corporate Center in Costa Mesa.

The school will consist of two entire floors and part of a third

at the Center. The University of Phoenix was founded in 1917 and is a

private university specializing in educating working adults.