GOOD OLD DAYS:Fair’s buzz has blossomed

This year’s Orange County Fair theme, Flower Power, isn’t merely a novelty. In fact, it hearkens to a time in the fair’s own lengthy history.

The fair was alive with authentic flower power, hippies and rainbows of tie-dye as it saw the end of the 1960s and greeted the 1970s.

As Orange County Fair CEO Becky Bailey-Findley recalls, the 1970s brought about important marketing changes for the fair.

“Starting around the ‘70s was when you saw lots of new entertainment ? whether community or traveling entertainment ? and attractions. The fair was really working to become more competitive,” she said.

And the competition, which by the mid-1970s included superpower attractions like Disneyland and Knott’s Berry Farm, was getting tough. The fair responded accordingly.

During the 1970s the Orange County Fair hosted 16 musical entertainers and bands, some of whom are still well-known today, such as Pat Boone and Bob Hope. The fair also featured the “World’s Unofficial Chili-Eating Contest” and the Orange County Wine Competition began in 1978.

Along with wine, Orange County Fair Commercial and Concessions Manager Tommie Fomby said that other long-lasting, tasty additions were made to the fair during the ‘70s.

Blue & White Hamburgers, J.R. Fudge, Chuckwagon, Country Fair Cinnamon Rolls and other food booths arrived during the decade, and they’re still going strong today, she said.

“Lots of the booths have been run by the same families the whole time,” Fomby said. “Each year, it’s really like a family reunion here ? kids, parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, everyone coming back to work together.”

Fomby, who is retiring this year, said she hopes the food offerings at the fair will remain constant.

“People don’t want to see the food change. They don’t even want to see the booths change. The food at the fair is personal for [fairgoers], and I hope it stays the same.”

The fair’s traditions continued into the 1980s, even as it grew. The equestrian center opened in 1980, President Reagan visited six years later and skydivers dropped in to celebrate opening day of the 1988 fair.

Eighties entertainers included Johnny Cash and June Carter, the Righteous Brothers and the Mamas & Papas. Fun themes, like “It’s Wild and Woolly” and “Don’t Miss the Egg-Citement” drew more visitors than ever, to the tune of 544,816 in 1989.

Then, during the ‘90s, the fair outdid itself in wacky new ways. The 1991 fair featured Dr. Norm Gary covering himself with 200,000 bees daily, Jeff Block of Tustin rode the Ferris wheel for 38 days in 1993, and in 1996 “bug chef” Ron Taylor created snacks containing crickets, worms and other insects.

The fairs of the new millennium have been much like those of the past as fairgoers flocked to cooking competitions in 2001 and a record-breaking 40 piglets stole the show in 2002.

Of course, the fair has changed in some ways. New attractions this decade included the wildly popular All-Alaskan Racing Pigs and hypnotist Mark Yuzuik, while the Euroslide and La Grande Wheel also debuted.

The fair of 2005 proudly welcomed its one millionth visitor with a lifetime pass to the fair.

Looking back at her more than 40 years of involvement with the Orange County Fair, Bailey-Findley has many fond memories and believes that the continuation of the fair is only natural.

“I think there is just an anthropological need for people to gather,” she said. “Historically, summertime in Orange County was a great time and place for people to get together.”

Despite this year’s record-breaking heat, the tradition continues, and there’s no end in sight. dpt.26-goodolddays-C.1PhotoInfo0H1T9TF320060726j2zeoincCredit: COURTESY OF THE O.C. FAIR Caption: (LA)Every day during the Orange County Fair of 1991, Dr. Norm Gary clustered himself with 200,000 honeybees while playing the clarinet. This year, perhaps by extension, the fair’s theme is Flower Power.