GOOD OLD DAYS: County tradition lives on

As Orange County Fair officials gear up for next year’s 120th anniversary celebration and review the fair’s history, there’s no doubt they’ve noticed that while things have gotten bigger over the decades, the heart of the fair remains the same — just ask those who’ve witnessed it firsthand.

“We used to vacation here; the Orange County Fair was a big deal for us. And you still felt like you were out in the country,” said Gay Wassall-Kelly, a 68-year-old Newport-Mesa resident who has lived here for most of her life. “You’d come down here and it was just great fun. Barbecues and cows. I was always a horseback rider, took lessons in Burbank. I felt right at home and we just loved it.”

Over the decades, thousands, if not millions, of people have fallen in love with the Orange County Fair.

When fair officials rummage through old newspaper articles and photos in the coming months researching history and preparing for the celebration, no doubt Orange County residents are doing the same, reflecting on the good ol’ days.

“I went to the fair every year for 25 straight years or so. Part of it was, I grew up in Minnesota so when we moved to California, we wanted to have some of that community family farm feeling and that was one of the places where you can get it,” said Jim de Boom, a Costa Mesa resident involved in several local clubs and a columnist for the Daily Pilot. “They had food booths inside where you could get meatloaf and apple pie. It was like mom’s home cooking kind of stuff.”

Through the decades the shows and rides have changed, but the mood hasn’t, locals say. In the 1950s, daily ostrich races, pogo stick races and live entertainment from the likes of Lawrence Welk were popular.

One of the most popular attractions was a two-bed- room home valued at $5,000.

By the ’60s, just a few years after Hawaii had become a state, Orange County was celebrating the newest state in the Union.

The Fair Queen became the Aloha Queen, and Pac Bell was introducing a touch-tone telephone.

“There are so many things that are the same and yet so different,” said Gladys Refakes, who has lived in the area since 1952.

She remembered agriculture and floral arrangements and when barracks were still on the grounds. She, like so many others, sounded more joyful when talking about the little things that made the fair unique — even some of those things that weren’t so pleasant, like parking at the fair.

They had decent parking — back then it used to be like parking out in a field,” Refakes said. “You could always count on washing your car because it was covered in dust and grime.”

It may still feel like parking in a field, but now it’s a bit cleaner and more organized.

“The area changed the fair, and the fair changed the area,” de Boom said.

JOSEPH SERNA may be reached at (714) 966-4619 or at joseph.serna@latimes.com.