We went to the Los Angeles County Fair on Friday, September 18, 2009. I had never been to the Fair and wanted to check it out at least once while we still lived relatively close to it. The only fair I had been to before was the Puyallup Fair in Puyallup, Washington. I remember the pig races, the farm animals, and the showcasing of cattle to be judged. I remember parking on someone’s lawn where they had rented out spaces. It was interesting. In Alaska there used to be a fair in Haines when I lived in Juneau. They probably still have it. I never got to go because it went on during the school year, I believe. My wife went to the L.A. County fair several years ago. She enjoyed all the indoor and covered booths where vendors sold everything from cloths to hot tubs to nameplates and tattoos. It reminded her of Santee Alley in the fashion district of Downtown L.A. When we went to the fair we noticed a couple of places that looked similar to Santee Alley: the outdoor but covered Grandstand Pavilion in the middle of the fairgrounds and the indoor booths in the many buildings of the Shopping Place at the east end. My wife also remembered a place near the Fairview Farms section that sold the world’s best ice cream. One not so good memory she had was that it took forever to drive out of the parking lot.
We decided to go on September 18 because that was Azusa day at the fair. Just about every day honored one or two nearby communities. The parade would feature community members and there would be a presentation of community hero awards. September 18 was also Chino day. While looking up information about the community days on the L.A. County Fair website I came across a printable coupon for “buy one get one free” admission for “Azusa city employees, friends, and family”. We weren’t sure if that applied to Azusa residents but we printed the coupon just in case. My wife also had a coupon for $2 off each admission ticket from Inland Empire magazine. We looked up a schedule of events on the website. Some were scheduled and others went on all day. We picked out the ones that interested us most, worked out where they were, and made our own tentative schedule.
We also looked at the various eating choices and there were many. The website had an impressive picture of the giant grill of Juicy’s Barbecue. But there were many barbecue options including Big Bubba’s Bad to the Bone Barbecue. My wife had heard about a place at the fair that sold the “Colossal Gelato”, an entire pint of ice cream in a 16-inch waffle cone. The website said these were sold at Italian Ice Cream on North Magnolia Street. The walkways at the fair are labeled as streets even though they’re just walkways. My wife also heard about muffin-sized cupcakes. When I looked up cupcakes on the website, it said that a place called CB Cupcakes sold muffin-sized cupcakes in sets of 3 with 3 milks. Places also sold jumbo cupcakes, fried cupcakes, and cupcakes on a stick. A third food item we heard about was fried hamburgers. I found that this place called Ranch BBQ sold fried bacon cheeseburgers. The website said it was at Midway Plaza but we couldn’t find that on the map.
On Friday after making and having breakfast we went to the Blockbuster Video at Azusa Avenue and Puente Street to get tickets to the Wolfmother concert at the Wiltern on Tuesday, November 24, 2009 (see future review). We got them just after they went on sale at 10 am and got great seats in the Mezzanine section. After returning home and getting ready, we drove to Metrolink train station and caught the 11:55 am train going east. We had to buy round trip tickets between the Covina and Pomona stations even though the train was going to stop at a temporary station, Fairplex, between Covina and Pomona. The train came one minute early and wasn’t very crowded. Several other people looked like they were also going to the fair. It was our first time taking the train to go east of Covina. We passed Charter Oak High School and some industrial, commercial, and residential areas. There was an interesting looking white church with a domed roof. Most of the good scenery was north of the train tracks.
It was a short train ride, only about 7 minutes. Fairplex station was just a concrete landing south of the tracks. A Metrolink employee opened the long chain-linked gate at the southwest end of the station. This led to the large Fairplex parking lot. They had a large waiting area set up with many benches, a shade, a Sparklett’s water cooler, and even a couple of portable outhouses. However, we didn’t need to wait because the shuttle was already there to drive us to the fair. We could see the Ferris wheel and the fair in the distance to the Southeast. To the west was a grandstand for what looked like an auto raceway. They drove us along a designated lane in the parking lot. Closer to the fair we could see that the parking lot was already full of cars. There were pedi-cabs ferrying people from their cars to the entrance. We reached the entrance, the Yellow Gate at the northwest end of the fair. The fair actually had three entrances: the Yellow Gate to the southwest, the Blue Gate to the north, and the Red Gate to the southeast. They told us to return to the Yellow Gate to catch the shuttle 25 minutes before the Metrolink train arrived. The last one going west arrived at Fairplex station at 7:47 pm. That meant we had to be at the Yellow Gate at 7:22 pm.
The Yellow Gate was actually a couple of large tents opened at both ends. As soon as we got off the shuttle someone handed us “prize cards” that we were supposed to scan at these machines nearby. We couldn’t even get the machines to work by touching the screens even though it said to do that. We just left the cards in the machine’s disposal bin. There were several queues to buy tickets and some machines to just buy tickets automatically. We found a short queue to a window. I showed the seller my printed Azusa community coupon and he gave us the 2 for 1 discount without asking for any ID or any other confirmation that we lived in Azusa. We went through a turnstile where they took our tickets and we were at the fair. It was 12:30 pm, a half hour after the fair opened for the day. It was warm that day and had already felt warm when we went to Blockbuster at 10 am that morning. Now it was very warm, in the mid to high 90’s, I believe. Right after we entered a photographer snapped our photo and gave us a ticket to claim it later.
Our first activity was to have lunch. We went to Route 66 BBQ that wasn’t too far from the Yellow Gate. After I ordered we sat at a table in a covered area nearby and they called our number. At the counter they gave me to boxes with regular-sized hot dog buns and told me to go to the grill to get the foot-long hot dog and Cajun sausage we ordered. As I waited at just outside the grill, smoke from it blew in my direction. My cloths would smell like barbecue smoke for the rest of the day. The cook served the hot dog and sausage and I accepted the option of grilled onions and peppers on our orders. The foot-long hot dog looked more like 14-16 inches. As I walked by someone said, “Look at the size of that hot dog. It’s too big for the box.” It was good, though, and just tough enough on the outside to pack in the juiciness. It had a lot of flavor, too, as did the Cajon sausage that had a lot of spice. The grilled onions and peppers were also good. As we ate we watched people ride the mechanical bull next door.
There were many booths, vendors, and places selling food. They seemed to be everywhere, not just concentrated in one area. It was hard to distinguish the “streets” on the map making it easy to get lost. It was hot, too, and sometimes we had to stop and rest. We passed some mini monster trucks and some bungee rides. Nearby we could see the Carnival area with its roller coaster, large Ferris wheel, and other rides. There were actually three Ferris wheels at the fair: at the Carnival (the largest), at the Clocktower Plaza, and at the Park Square where they had a kids’ carnival. As we walked along Magnolia Street we didn’t see Italian Ice Cream with its Colossal Gelato. We were trying to get to the Home and Garden area but we somehow arrived at the covered Grandstand Pavilion. Not a bad thing because it had shade and we could rest a bit. We then walked south through the Palms Marketplace to the large pavilion in the Home and Garden section. Within it they had the Gateway to Africa exhibit with displays of African plants and life-size model animals made of flowers similar to Rose Parade floats. They had model elephants and very tall giraffes. Interesting plants included rainbow-colored roses. Some arrangements included tiles of lemons and pomegranates.
We exited the south end of the pavilion into the Home and Garden grounds. They consisted of hilly paths among green trees and plants. Just outside the pavilion was a small covered stand selling Hawaiian smoothies. They all had dairy so I couldn’t try them but my wife though she might like to try one later. It was hot so we climbed the paths slowly to the section called the Congo Basin Fly Zone. It was a landing with cages containing some large birds. We wanted to see the Congo Basin Parrot Show that started at 1:30 pm. Nearby was a place where they had this large outdoor chess set. We later saw a young couple actually playing chess with it. We waited until 1:30 and there was nothing going on. We thought we might be in the wrong spot. We walked around some more but then saw a gamekeeper at the Fly Zone start to gather people around, mostly kids. He brought out a small grey parrot and had it perch on a leather glove he wore. I don’t remember when the kind of parrot he said it was. He explained that it was a young parrot and that this species learned to talk by mimicking what it heard. This reminded me of when lived on Commonwealth Avenue many years ago near Koreatown and a neighbor’s parrot would imitate car alarms. The gamekeeper was trying to teach the gray parrot to say, “What’s cookin’, good lookin’?” We repeated it a few times and the parrot made a similar noise, though not quite decipherable.
Next, the gamekeeper picked up the Lanner falcon that we saw perched on a stump earlier. He talked about it and then did the same with the Augur buzzard or hawk also perched on a stump. He explained how the females were much bigger than the males because they had to protect the nest while the males hunted for food. The last bird he picked up was a tall light brown owl called the Eurasian Eagle Owl. It had also been perched on a stump in the same cage as the falcon and hawk. He explained that the owl’s favorite food is the skunk because the owl has no sense of smell. He let the kids touch it by stroking down its back with two fingers. The last bird he explained but did not pick up was the large Alyssinian Ground Hornbill from either Africa or South America (I don’t remember). It mostly walks around scavenging but can fly if it needs to make a fast getaway.
The parrot show ended and we walked around the garden paths a bit. They had some pens with real African animals: ostriches, camels, zebras, and miniature zebus. We returned to that stand near the Gateway to Africa pavilion that sold Hawaiian smoothies. The business was called Maui Wowee and my wife got the Lemon Wave smoothie that she enjoyed very much. It was one of the things that impressed her most at the fair. We walked back up the paths away from the Congo Basin and towards the Caring for the Land section. The paths were steep and became dirt and sawdust rather than concrete. On the side of a steep hill they had a genuine fire lookout station. I went up the stairs to check it out. It had a deck around a small shelter. There was this circular viewing device used to determine the coordinates of a fire after it was spotted. There was also a small bed for sleeping in the tower. From the tower I could see the Yellow Gate and the foothills north of Pomona far beyond. See the tower reminded me of a short story in the book T.C. Boyle Stories about a woman who lives and works at a remote fire lookout station. We then walked by some other Forest Service displays. I did a Smokey Bear bean bag toss and throw one of the bags through the hole. As prizes they gave us a keychain and a whistle. We were looking for the Smokey (spelled “Smoley” in the schedule online) Bear 65th birthday display and practice dialing 911 display but we could find them. We soon left the Caring for the Land and Home and Garden sections and walked back through the Gateway to Africa pavilion.
We walked back out past the Palms Marketplace and the Grandstand Pavilion toward the Grandstand building itself. We passed a place where people were queued up to get tickets to one of the fair concerts. Bands and artists from Good Charlotte to the Beach Boys were playing that year. We were headed toward the place where they were showing quilting, knitting, and arts and crafts in the Grandstand building. We made it to Broadway, the major walkway over which a chairlift rode so people could see the fair from above. The large Carnival Ferris wheel was at the northwest end of Broadway. Along the south side of the Grandstand building I spotted a booth selling apple fries. This sounded intriguing so I got some and we went into an air conditioned seating area and tried them. They were good with slightly tart apple flavor. They weren’t crunchy but still good. The booth that sold apple fries, along with some others we saw, also sold chocolate-covered bacon. A few places also sold “meat-lover’s ice cream” that I later learned was chocolate ice cream with bacon bits.
We then entered the Grandstand building into the Tapestry section. There they had quilts, needlepoint, knits, stained glass, dolls, and many other crafts. We saw one small stained glass of a rose made by someone from Covina that had won second place. Many crafts had blue ribbons for first place, red for second, white for third, and pink for fourth. A needlepoint from Azusa won first place.
We went to the neighboring Culinary Styles Gourmet Kitchen section of the Grandstand building that was just past the escalators that went up to the actually stands where people watched the horseracing. The Culinary Styles section had creative place settings that people entered to be judged in different categories. Only the winners were displayed. There were various baked goods, also judged, in glass display cases including cookies, cakes, and breads. One looked like a giant muffin. There was a section with benches to watch a show kitchen. We were going to see Cooking with George. George is the culinary coordinator at Fairplex. He’s a former Disney pastry chef who now travels all over teaching cooking classes including on cruise ships. He has written several cookbooks including one on cheesecake and another on sauces. All his books were there on display and for sale. George is a big jolly guy with a voice similar to Father Bill’s. He’s very funny, too.
For the first segment, George demonstrated how to make two kinds of cheesecake: coffee liqueur-flavored and pecan-flavored. He offered lots of tips as he cooked such as that cheesecake tasted best on the third day after it’s made, how ice cream-like scoops are less expensive at restaurant supply stores, and how these scoops have numbers on them ranging from 8-60 that, I think, he said are the number of scoops in a pint of ice cream. He demonstrated the usefulness of a cheesecake pan with a removable bottom, and talked about how to prevent cracks in cheesecake, or just cover them up with whipped cream and the guests won’t know the difference. A couple of assistants helped him, bringing him ingredients and cooking utensils. He was funny saying, “Whoops,” when he spilled something and then saying, “Since I’m not a doctor, I can say ‘Whoops’.” One of the most impressive things he showed was how to crack and extract the contents of an egg using one hand only. You hold the egg with your middle and index finger, crack it between these fingers and pull back one side of the egg with your thumb using your index finger as a hinge. He showed a kid from the audience how to do it and the kid did a good job. George could crack eggs and extract the contents very quickly with one hand.
When George made the cheesecake, he put it in individual tiny containers so it could be served as samples to the audience. While it was cooking, he took a break and talked to individual members of the audience. I walked around looking at the place setting displays, desserts, and other award winning things in the large room. There was a table setting based on the TV show M.A.S.H. with metal trays, character’s names (e.g. Hawkeye, Trapper), and a stethoscope. Another setting had an “Under the Sea” setting and another used a “classic Hollywood” theme with pictures of classic movie stars such as Humphrey Bogart and Veronica Lake in the placemats. I looked at more of the desserts and baked goods. A third-place bar cookie was from San Dimas. There was a cake that looked like a pirate’s treasure chest. A chocolate dessert was shaped like a lady’s shoe and near it was an impressive gingerbread castle. There was another section showcasing homemade jewelry and another case with homemade jams, jellies, vinegars, and preserves. Prizewinning preserves came from Bob Blackard of Covina and Francine Rippy of Hacienda Heights. When I returned to the benches they were serving samples of the cheesecake that George had made. My wife enjoyed the bite of pecan cheesecake.
For his next segment George made the flambé dessert Bananas Foster and English Trifle. He talked a bit about the origins of Bananas Foster that’s from Nawlins. Usually, the banana is split down the middle lengthwise, but George cut it up into widthwise into small slices so he could pass out samples. He had a bit of difficulty getting the bananas to flame because there were so many in the skillet. He had to divide them into two skillets. English Trifle is made by stacking slices of cake, berries, custard, liqueur, and whipped cream in layers. George had his assistants serve samples of both desserts and my wife enjoyed the Bananas Foster.
After the demonstration we walked around the large Tapestry section with the arts and crafts. There was a quilt with cute little shirt patterns in its panels that my wife liked. We also saw an Elvis Presley woodcut portrait and an Elvis quilt in a separate display. My wife was surprised that the Elvis quilt didn’t have a blue, red, yellow, or pink ribbon of a prizewinner. One last interesting craft was saw was a jacket made entirely out of Capri Sun wrappers.
We went back outside to Broadway to watch the parade that would feature the communities of Azusa and Chino. Across Broadway we saw the large booth for Chicken Charlie’s that sold all kinds of fried foods: fried avocados, artichokes, twinkies, broasted chicken, even fried frog legs. Later I overheard someone say that frog legs tasted like fish and had the consistency of chicken. We also refilled our water bottles at the Sparklett’s booth nearby. The parade soon began. We watched from the south side of Broadway at the beginning. It consisted of high school marching bands, classic cars, and a pirate ship from which the pirates threw beads to the spectators. The pirate on the high back deck of the ship dressed like Captain Jack Sparrow did look a bit like Johnny Depp.
There was a classic red fire engine with a banner for the Azusa community heroes, Luis Miranda and Alyssa Zamora. We saw them later and I don’t think they were actually in the truck with the others throwing more beads. There was a barn-shaped float with someone in a chicken costume and others throwing more beads. There more classic cars including a red VW bus/pickup. The parade seemed to end but after we had crossed back to the north side of Broadway and started walking east to the next event, the parade continued. There were more classic cars, some with tricked-up suspension that allowed them to bounce up and down on each wheel. The mayor of Azusa, Joseph Rocha, rode by in an open classic car. A large camouflaged tow truck from Jan’s Towing in Azusa drove by. There were more high school marching bands, all wearing impressive uniforms, some with capes. Mounted police from Chino and other vehicles with Chino dignitaries drove by. Smokey the Bear and Woodsy Owl rode by in the back of a truck waving to the crowd. There was another, this time more modern, fire truck. A band rode by on a flat trailer performing the song “Car Wash” with the singer walking along beside the trailer. A golf cart drove by with a Miss Azusa runner-up and other members of the Miss Azusa court, though I didn’t see Miss Azusa with them. I remember her from the Azusa L.A. Dodgers Family Night the month before (see earlier blog). The parade continued with the very impressive team of Budweiser Clydesdale horses pulling a large coach full of beer crates. They were very large and well-groomed horses with white fur around their hooves. They were a team of many horses that stopped right in front of us and one horse looked over at us.
The parade went down Broadway and returned up another walkway to the south so we saw some of it twice. We made our way through the crowd on the north side of Broadway as we walked east toward the Shopping Place section of the fairgrounds. We were headed toward the Pepper Stage where the Azusa and Chino community hero presentations would take place. We passed the Kiddy Carnival at Park Square, crossed Palm Street where I noticed another chairlift flying overhead, and we somehow ended up in the long Building 4 of the Shopping Place section. We walked by more vendors selling just about everything and some giving demonstrations. When we exited out the east end of Building 4 we found ourselves at the southeast Red Gate entrance to the fair. Just outside this gate is the Sheraton Fairplex Hotel. We walked north to the Pepper stage that’s between Buildings 5 and 8. It was just past 5:30 but the presentation hadn’t started yet.
The community hero presentation began with Dan Harder, the director of Education for the L.A. County Fair welcoming Azusa (cheers from right side of the audience) and Chino (cheers from the left side). He described how this was the 87th annual L.A. County Fair and mentioned some of the features of this fair such as the Jurassic Planet animatronic dinosaur exhibit next door and the food vendors selling chocolate-covered bacon. He then introduced the mayor of Azusa, Joseph Rocha, to present the Azusa community hero awards. This was the third time I had seen the mayor. The first time was at the book signing for the book Azusa by Jeffry Lawrence Cornejo Jr. back in September 2007 when I actually met the mayor. The second was at the Azusa L.A. Dodgers Family Night in August 2009. Now I’ve seen Mayor Rocha as many times as I’ve seen Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa of Los Angeles. I saw him at the Pobradores Walk from San Gabriel to Olvera Street in September 2005, the USC 125-years celebration in October 2005, and at the Get Out the Vote Rally with Hilary Clinton in February 2008. I wonder which mayor I’ll see next.
At the community hero presentation, Mayor Rocha had Azusa Councilman Robert Gonzales assist him. Mayor Rocha described how he and his wife had come to the opening Saturday of the L.A. County fair for 43 years through last year (2008). He was a teacher, now retired, and the fair would start the school year for him. This year, opening day was on a Friday for the first time and his wife wasn’t feeling well so they missed opening day. But he said he’d begin another 43 years. Wow, that means as that of September 2008 he had been to half of all the L.A. County Fairs held up to that point. He acknowledged the Miss Azusa runner-up and Miss Azusa court in the audience and went on to describe the first Azusa Community Hero, Luis Miranda, a longtime Azusa resident and now grandfather who helped out at the Azusa senior citizens’ home. Mayor Rocha said, “I want to be like Louie when I grow up.” He and Councilman Gonzales gave Mr. Miranda a plaque, certificate, and some flowers that they said were grown in Azusa. Mr. Harder also gave Mr. Miranda a plaque from the L.A. County Fair.
Mayor Rocha then called the next Azusa community hero, Alyssa Zamora. Miss Zamora was a sophomore at Gladstone High School and the Associated Student Body (ASB) vice president there. Before high school she went to Slausen Middle School in Azusa just like Mayor Rocha and Councilman Gonzales long before her. While there, she noticed that part of the street near the school had no sidewalk. People, including children and mothers with strollers, had to walk on the street to get by and there’s a lot of car traffic on that street because it isn’t far from the 210. Miss Zamora persistently lobbied to the city council and whoever else needed lobbying to get a sidewalk built. This year, it was built as a permanent monument to her efforts. Many people are now safer thanks to her. Like Mr. Miranda, they gave her a plague, certificate, and Azusan flowers. Mr. Harder gave her a Fair plaque and Miss Zamora thanked everyone for coming to support her. Now it was time for Chino to award their community hero awards. The mayor of Chino acknowledged both Chino and Azusa in the audience. He was joined by several others including the state assemblywoman from the Chino area. We stayed long enough for them to award the first community hero award and then left to see more of the fair.
We went to building 8 nearby to see the Jurassic Planet exhibit. They had all these actual-size animatronic dinosaurs that moved slightly and smoothly and also roared. Each was labeled with its name and name origin. Most were as tall or taller than people. There was Suchorusaurus (sp?) whose name means “crocodile mimic” because its head looked like that of a crocodile. The Compsognathus were these little thin dinosaurs that were about one foot tall. The goat-like Parasaurolophus had a sleek horn on its head and some hatching babies squirming around nearby. The largest dinosaur was the very big and tall Tyrannosaurus Rex whose name means tyrant lizard king. I was surprised how thin the Tyrannosaurus looks from the front in contrast to looking so big from the side. It was facing off against the armored Torosaurus (bull lizard) that looked a bit like a Triceratops only with two horns instead of three. There was Dilophosourus that they had colored bright green (I’m not sure whether anyone really knows what color the dinosaurs were) and the birdlike Muttaburrasaurus from the Muttaburra area of Australia. There were many other dinosaurs there from Africa, Europe, and South America. In the rest of Building 8 they had booths selling dinosaur- and science-related merchandise. Fossil fun was a sandy area where kids could hunt for buried fossils.
We left Building 8 and started looking for a place to get dinner. There were many options including barbecue, Italian food, and seafood. My wife saw a place selling buffalo chicken sandwiches. I got distracted checking out a place that sold scooters and power wheelchairs called Scooterville. I wondered if they were a Medicare supplier of durable medical equipment (DME). Finally I decided to have a turkey leg for lunch since I hadn’t seen them anywhere else except Disney’s California Adventure. My wife had a rib eye sandwich. We both enjoyed our dinners. The turkey leg had a great smoky flavor, though it also had more bones than I expected. It was a lot of food and I couldn’t quite finish all of it. We sat at some tables near the karaoke booth outside. A man sang “Disco Inferno” and did a pretty good job even though he said it was difficult. Another sang the epic song “The Day the Music Died”. Another did a soulful version of Elvis Presley’s “The Wonder of You”. The last song we heard and watched was a guy singing “Beginnings” by Chicago. The words showed on a screen so we in the audience could sing along.
It was after 7 pm and getting dark. We figured we should make our way back to the Yellow Gate to catch the shuttle to the Metrolink station. While walking down Magnolia Street we still couldn’t find the place Italian Ice Cream that sold the Colossal Gelato. Nor did we locate CB’s Cupcakes that sold the muffin-size cupcakes. We didn’t have time to see the Apple Orchard or the cooking demonstrations at the Fairview Farms section. But we still got to see and do a lot. The fair was still going strong. It wouldn’t let out until 12 or 1 am and I’m sure there was a big name act performing on the End of Summer Concert Series Stage. Back near the Yellow Gate we went to the photo place and gave them our ticket. But we didn’t like how the photo turned out. It was only 7:15-7:20 pm. We exited the gate and walked to the right where we thought the shuttles were parked. There were many pedicabs vying for the business of ferrying people to their cars. The parking lot was even more crowded than when we arrived.
We found the shuttles to the right and the driver of the first one directed us to the one for Metrolink. They all looked the same. The Metrolink shuttle left right away even though it was early, and took us to the covered waiting area near the Fairplex Metrolink station. There were other people waiting there. The Metrolink staffers announced that the 7:47 pm train to San Bernadino was late. It arrived at 7:57 pm and everyone waiting with us went to board it. About that time another shuttle arrived with two people we saw earlier on the train in the morning. Our westbound train arrived after 8 pm, late due to the other train being late. We all boarded and this time couldn’t see much out the windows since it was dark. We were back at the Covina station in seven minutes.
Wow, this has to be one of the longest blogs I’ve written. I didn’t realize that we did so much at the fair in a little over seven hours. All this and we only did a small fraction of what was available. We didn’t see any of the farm animals or farm features except perhaps the Budweiser Clydesdale horses. But then again I had seen a lot of farm animals at the Puyallup Fair many years ago. We missed some of the food items we had heard about but we had lots of interesting fair food. Getting the fair experience was the main idea. It helped to plan ahead. We probably won’t be back for a few years at least. Now we have the memory preserved.
We decided to go on September 18 because that was Azusa day at the fair. Just about every day honored one or two nearby communities. The parade would feature community members and there would be a presentation of community hero awards. September 18 was also Chino day. While looking up information about the community days on the L.A. County Fair website I came across a printable coupon for “buy one get one free” admission for “Azusa city employees, friends, and family”. We weren’t sure if that applied to Azusa residents but we printed the coupon just in case. My wife also had a coupon for $2 off each admission ticket from Inland Empire magazine. We looked up a schedule of events on the website. Some were scheduled and others went on all day. We picked out the ones that interested us most, worked out where they were, and made our own tentative schedule.
We also looked at the various eating choices and there were many. The website had an impressive picture of the giant grill of Juicy’s Barbecue. But there were many barbecue options including Big Bubba’s Bad to the Bone Barbecue. My wife had heard about a place at the fair that sold the “Colossal Gelato”, an entire pint of ice cream in a 16-inch waffle cone. The website said these were sold at Italian Ice Cream on North Magnolia Street. The walkways at the fair are labeled as streets even though they’re just walkways. My wife also heard about muffin-sized cupcakes. When I looked up cupcakes on the website, it said that a place called CB Cupcakes sold muffin-sized cupcakes in sets of 3 with 3 milks. Places also sold jumbo cupcakes, fried cupcakes, and cupcakes on a stick. A third food item we heard about was fried hamburgers. I found that this place called Ranch BBQ sold fried bacon cheeseburgers. The website said it was at Midway Plaza but we couldn’t find that on the map.
On Friday after making and having breakfast we went to the Blockbuster Video at Azusa Avenue and Puente Street to get tickets to the Wolfmother concert at the Wiltern on Tuesday, November 24, 2009 (see future review). We got them just after they went on sale at 10 am and got great seats in the Mezzanine section. After returning home and getting ready, we drove to Metrolink train station and caught the 11:55 am train going east. We had to buy round trip tickets between the Covina and Pomona stations even though the train was going to stop at a temporary station, Fairplex, between Covina and Pomona. The train came one minute early and wasn’t very crowded. Several other people looked like they were also going to the fair. It was our first time taking the train to go east of Covina. We passed Charter Oak High School and some industrial, commercial, and residential areas. There was an interesting looking white church with a domed roof. Most of the good scenery was north of the train tracks.
It was a short train ride, only about 7 minutes. Fairplex station was just a concrete landing south of the tracks. A Metrolink employee opened the long chain-linked gate at the southwest end of the station. This led to the large Fairplex parking lot. They had a large waiting area set up with many benches, a shade, a Sparklett’s water cooler, and even a couple of portable outhouses. However, we didn’t need to wait because the shuttle was already there to drive us to the fair. We could see the Ferris wheel and the fair in the distance to the Southeast. To the west was a grandstand for what looked like an auto raceway. They drove us along a designated lane in the parking lot. Closer to the fair we could see that the parking lot was already full of cars. There were pedi-cabs ferrying people from their cars to the entrance. We reached the entrance, the Yellow Gate at the northwest end of the fair. The fair actually had three entrances: the Yellow Gate to the southwest, the Blue Gate to the north, and the Red Gate to the southeast. They told us to return to the Yellow Gate to catch the shuttle 25 minutes before the Metrolink train arrived. The last one going west arrived at Fairplex station at 7:47 pm. That meant we had to be at the Yellow Gate at 7:22 pm.
The Yellow Gate was actually a couple of large tents opened at both ends. As soon as we got off the shuttle someone handed us “prize cards” that we were supposed to scan at these machines nearby. We couldn’t even get the machines to work by touching the screens even though it said to do that. We just left the cards in the machine’s disposal bin. There were several queues to buy tickets and some machines to just buy tickets automatically. We found a short queue to a window. I showed the seller my printed Azusa community coupon and he gave us the 2 for 1 discount without asking for any ID or any other confirmation that we lived in Azusa. We went through a turnstile where they took our tickets and we were at the fair. It was 12:30 pm, a half hour after the fair opened for the day. It was warm that day and had already felt warm when we went to Blockbuster at 10 am that morning. Now it was very warm, in the mid to high 90’s, I believe. Right after we entered a photographer snapped our photo and gave us a ticket to claim it later.
Our first activity was to have lunch. We went to Route 66 BBQ that wasn’t too far from the Yellow Gate. After I ordered we sat at a table in a covered area nearby and they called our number. At the counter they gave me to boxes with regular-sized hot dog buns and told me to go to the grill to get the foot-long hot dog and Cajun sausage we ordered. As I waited at just outside the grill, smoke from it blew in my direction. My cloths would smell like barbecue smoke for the rest of the day. The cook served the hot dog and sausage and I accepted the option of grilled onions and peppers on our orders. The foot-long hot dog looked more like 14-16 inches. As I walked by someone said, “Look at the size of that hot dog. It’s too big for the box.” It was good, though, and just tough enough on the outside to pack in the juiciness. It had a lot of flavor, too, as did the Cajon sausage that had a lot of spice. The grilled onions and peppers were also good. As we ate we watched people ride the mechanical bull next door.
There were many booths, vendors, and places selling food. They seemed to be everywhere, not just concentrated in one area. It was hard to distinguish the “streets” on the map making it easy to get lost. It was hot, too, and sometimes we had to stop and rest. We passed some mini monster trucks and some bungee rides. Nearby we could see the Carnival area with its roller coaster, large Ferris wheel, and other rides. There were actually three Ferris wheels at the fair: at the Carnival (the largest), at the Clocktower Plaza, and at the Park Square where they had a kids’ carnival. As we walked along Magnolia Street we didn’t see Italian Ice Cream with its Colossal Gelato. We were trying to get to the Home and Garden area but we somehow arrived at the covered Grandstand Pavilion. Not a bad thing because it had shade and we could rest a bit. We then walked south through the Palms Marketplace to the large pavilion in the Home and Garden section. Within it they had the Gateway to Africa exhibit with displays of African plants and life-size model animals made of flowers similar to Rose Parade floats. They had model elephants and very tall giraffes. Interesting plants included rainbow-colored roses. Some arrangements included tiles of lemons and pomegranates.
We exited the south end of the pavilion into the Home and Garden grounds. They consisted of hilly paths among green trees and plants. Just outside the pavilion was a small covered stand selling Hawaiian smoothies. They all had dairy so I couldn’t try them but my wife though she might like to try one later. It was hot so we climbed the paths slowly to the section called the Congo Basin Fly Zone. It was a landing with cages containing some large birds. We wanted to see the Congo Basin Parrot Show that started at 1:30 pm. Nearby was a place where they had this large outdoor chess set. We later saw a young couple actually playing chess with it. We waited until 1:30 and there was nothing going on. We thought we might be in the wrong spot. We walked around some more but then saw a gamekeeper at the Fly Zone start to gather people around, mostly kids. He brought out a small grey parrot and had it perch on a leather glove he wore. I don’t remember when the kind of parrot he said it was. He explained that it was a young parrot and that this species learned to talk by mimicking what it heard. This reminded me of when lived on Commonwealth Avenue many years ago near Koreatown and a neighbor’s parrot would imitate car alarms. The gamekeeper was trying to teach the gray parrot to say, “What’s cookin’, good lookin’?” We repeated it a few times and the parrot made a similar noise, though not quite decipherable.
Next, the gamekeeper picked up the Lanner falcon that we saw perched on a stump earlier. He talked about it and then did the same with the Augur buzzard or hawk also perched on a stump. He explained how the females were much bigger than the males because they had to protect the nest while the males hunted for food. The last bird he picked up was a tall light brown owl called the Eurasian Eagle Owl. It had also been perched on a stump in the same cage as the falcon and hawk. He explained that the owl’s favorite food is the skunk because the owl has no sense of smell. He let the kids touch it by stroking down its back with two fingers. The last bird he explained but did not pick up was the large Alyssinian Ground Hornbill from either Africa or South America (I don’t remember). It mostly walks around scavenging but can fly if it needs to make a fast getaway.
The parrot show ended and we walked around the garden paths a bit. They had some pens with real African animals: ostriches, camels, zebras, and miniature zebus. We returned to that stand near the Gateway to Africa pavilion that sold Hawaiian smoothies. The business was called Maui Wowee and my wife got the Lemon Wave smoothie that she enjoyed very much. It was one of the things that impressed her most at the fair. We walked back up the paths away from the Congo Basin and towards the Caring for the Land section. The paths were steep and became dirt and sawdust rather than concrete. On the side of a steep hill they had a genuine fire lookout station. I went up the stairs to check it out. It had a deck around a small shelter. There was this circular viewing device used to determine the coordinates of a fire after it was spotted. There was also a small bed for sleeping in the tower. From the tower I could see the Yellow Gate and the foothills north of Pomona far beyond. See the tower reminded me of a short story in the book T.C. Boyle Stories about a woman who lives and works at a remote fire lookout station. We then walked by some other Forest Service displays. I did a Smokey Bear bean bag toss and throw one of the bags through the hole. As prizes they gave us a keychain and a whistle. We were looking for the Smokey (spelled “Smoley” in the schedule online) Bear 65th birthday display and practice dialing 911 display but we could find them. We soon left the Caring for the Land and Home and Garden sections and walked back through the Gateway to Africa pavilion.
We walked back out past the Palms Marketplace and the Grandstand Pavilion toward the Grandstand building itself. We passed a place where people were queued up to get tickets to one of the fair concerts. Bands and artists from Good Charlotte to the Beach Boys were playing that year. We were headed toward the place where they were showing quilting, knitting, and arts and crafts in the Grandstand building. We made it to Broadway, the major walkway over which a chairlift rode so people could see the fair from above. The large Carnival Ferris wheel was at the northwest end of Broadway. Along the south side of the Grandstand building I spotted a booth selling apple fries. This sounded intriguing so I got some and we went into an air conditioned seating area and tried them. They were good with slightly tart apple flavor. They weren’t crunchy but still good. The booth that sold apple fries, along with some others we saw, also sold chocolate-covered bacon. A few places also sold “meat-lover’s ice cream” that I later learned was chocolate ice cream with bacon bits.
We then entered the Grandstand building into the Tapestry section. There they had quilts, needlepoint, knits, stained glass, dolls, and many other crafts. We saw one small stained glass of a rose made by someone from Covina that had won second place. Many crafts had blue ribbons for first place, red for second, white for third, and pink for fourth. A needlepoint from Azusa won first place.
We went to the neighboring Culinary Styles Gourmet Kitchen section of the Grandstand building that was just past the escalators that went up to the actually stands where people watched the horseracing. The Culinary Styles section had creative place settings that people entered to be judged in different categories. Only the winners were displayed. There were various baked goods, also judged, in glass display cases including cookies, cakes, and breads. One looked like a giant muffin. There was a section with benches to watch a show kitchen. We were going to see Cooking with George. George is the culinary coordinator at Fairplex. He’s a former Disney pastry chef who now travels all over teaching cooking classes including on cruise ships. He has written several cookbooks including one on cheesecake and another on sauces. All his books were there on display and for sale. George is a big jolly guy with a voice similar to Father Bill’s. He’s very funny, too.
For the first segment, George demonstrated how to make two kinds of cheesecake: coffee liqueur-flavored and pecan-flavored. He offered lots of tips as he cooked such as that cheesecake tasted best on the third day after it’s made, how ice cream-like scoops are less expensive at restaurant supply stores, and how these scoops have numbers on them ranging from 8-60 that, I think, he said are the number of scoops in a pint of ice cream. He demonstrated the usefulness of a cheesecake pan with a removable bottom, and talked about how to prevent cracks in cheesecake, or just cover them up with whipped cream and the guests won’t know the difference. A couple of assistants helped him, bringing him ingredients and cooking utensils. He was funny saying, “Whoops,” when he spilled something and then saying, “Since I’m not a doctor, I can say ‘Whoops’.” One of the most impressive things he showed was how to crack and extract the contents of an egg using one hand only. You hold the egg with your middle and index finger, crack it between these fingers and pull back one side of the egg with your thumb using your index finger as a hinge. He showed a kid from the audience how to do it and the kid did a good job. George could crack eggs and extract the contents very quickly with one hand.
When George made the cheesecake, he put it in individual tiny containers so it could be served as samples to the audience. While it was cooking, he took a break and talked to individual members of the audience. I walked around looking at the place setting displays, desserts, and other award winning things in the large room. There was a table setting based on the TV show M.A.S.H. with metal trays, character’s names (e.g. Hawkeye, Trapper), and a stethoscope. Another setting had an “Under the Sea” setting and another used a “classic Hollywood” theme with pictures of classic movie stars such as Humphrey Bogart and Veronica Lake in the placemats. I looked at more of the desserts and baked goods. A third-place bar cookie was from San Dimas. There was a cake that looked like a pirate’s treasure chest. A chocolate dessert was shaped like a lady’s shoe and near it was an impressive gingerbread castle. There was another section showcasing homemade jewelry and another case with homemade jams, jellies, vinegars, and preserves. Prizewinning preserves came from Bob Blackard of Covina and Francine Rippy of Hacienda Heights. When I returned to the benches they were serving samples of the cheesecake that George had made. My wife enjoyed the bite of pecan cheesecake.
For his next segment George made the flambé dessert Bananas Foster and English Trifle. He talked a bit about the origins of Bananas Foster that’s from Nawlins. Usually, the banana is split down the middle lengthwise, but George cut it up into widthwise into small slices so he could pass out samples. He had a bit of difficulty getting the bananas to flame because there were so many in the skillet. He had to divide them into two skillets. English Trifle is made by stacking slices of cake, berries, custard, liqueur, and whipped cream in layers. George had his assistants serve samples of both desserts and my wife enjoyed the Bananas Foster.
After the demonstration we walked around the large Tapestry section with the arts and crafts. There was a quilt with cute little shirt patterns in its panels that my wife liked. We also saw an Elvis Presley woodcut portrait and an Elvis quilt in a separate display. My wife was surprised that the Elvis quilt didn’t have a blue, red, yellow, or pink ribbon of a prizewinner. One last interesting craft was saw was a jacket made entirely out of Capri Sun wrappers.
We went back outside to Broadway to watch the parade that would feature the communities of Azusa and Chino. Across Broadway we saw the large booth for Chicken Charlie’s that sold all kinds of fried foods: fried avocados, artichokes, twinkies, broasted chicken, even fried frog legs. Later I overheard someone say that frog legs tasted like fish and had the consistency of chicken. We also refilled our water bottles at the Sparklett’s booth nearby. The parade soon began. We watched from the south side of Broadway at the beginning. It consisted of high school marching bands, classic cars, and a pirate ship from which the pirates threw beads to the spectators. The pirate on the high back deck of the ship dressed like Captain Jack Sparrow did look a bit like Johnny Depp.
There was a classic red fire engine with a banner for the Azusa community heroes, Luis Miranda and Alyssa Zamora. We saw them later and I don’t think they were actually in the truck with the others throwing more beads. There was a barn-shaped float with someone in a chicken costume and others throwing more beads. There more classic cars including a red VW bus/pickup. The parade seemed to end but after we had crossed back to the north side of Broadway and started walking east to the next event, the parade continued. There were more classic cars, some with tricked-up suspension that allowed them to bounce up and down on each wheel. The mayor of Azusa, Joseph Rocha, rode by in an open classic car. A large camouflaged tow truck from Jan’s Towing in Azusa drove by. There were more high school marching bands, all wearing impressive uniforms, some with capes. Mounted police from Chino and other vehicles with Chino dignitaries drove by. Smokey the Bear and Woodsy Owl rode by in the back of a truck waving to the crowd. There was another, this time more modern, fire truck. A band rode by on a flat trailer performing the song “Car Wash” with the singer walking along beside the trailer. A golf cart drove by with a Miss Azusa runner-up and other members of the Miss Azusa court, though I didn’t see Miss Azusa with them. I remember her from the Azusa L.A. Dodgers Family Night the month before (see earlier blog). The parade continued with the very impressive team of Budweiser Clydesdale horses pulling a large coach full of beer crates. They were very large and well-groomed horses with white fur around their hooves. They were a team of many horses that stopped right in front of us and one horse looked over at us.
The parade went down Broadway and returned up another walkway to the south so we saw some of it twice. We made our way through the crowd on the north side of Broadway as we walked east toward the Shopping Place section of the fairgrounds. We were headed toward the Pepper Stage where the Azusa and Chino community hero presentations would take place. We passed the Kiddy Carnival at Park Square, crossed Palm Street where I noticed another chairlift flying overhead, and we somehow ended up in the long Building 4 of the Shopping Place section. We walked by more vendors selling just about everything and some giving demonstrations. When we exited out the east end of Building 4 we found ourselves at the southeast Red Gate entrance to the fair. Just outside this gate is the Sheraton Fairplex Hotel. We walked north to the Pepper stage that’s between Buildings 5 and 8. It was just past 5:30 but the presentation hadn’t started yet.
The community hero presentation began with Dan Harder, the director of Education for the L.A. County Fair welcoming Azusa (cheers from right side of the audience) and Chino (cheers from the left side). He described how this was the 87th annual L.A. County Fair and mentioned some of the features of this fair such as the Jurassic Planet animatronic dinosaur exhibit next door and the food vendors selling chocolate-covered bacon. He then introduced the mayor of Azusa, Joseph Rocha, to present the Azusa community hero awards. This was the third time I had seen the mayor. The first time was at the book signing for the book Azusa by Jeffry Lawrence Cornejo Jr. back in September 2007 when I actually met the mayor. The second was at the Azusa L.A. Dodgers Family Night in August 2009. Now I’ve seen Mayor Rocha as many times as I’ve seen Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa of Los Angeles. I saw him at the Pobradores Walk from San Gabriel to Olvera Street in September 2005, the USC 125-years celebration in October 2005, and at the Get Out the Vote Rally with Hilary Clinton in February 2008. I wonder which mayor I’ll see next.
At the community hero presentation, Mayor Rocha had Azusa Councilman Robert Gonzales assist him. Mayor Rocha described how he and his wife had come to the opening Saturday of the L.A. County fair for 43 years through last year (2008). He was a teacher, now retired, and the fair would start the school year for him. This year, opening day was on a Friday for the first time and his wife wasn’t feeling well so they missed opening day. But he said he’d begin another 43 years. Wow, that means as that of September 2008 he had been to half of all the L.A. County Fairs held up to that point. He acknowledged the Miss Azusa runner-up and Miss Azusa court in the audience and went on to describe the first Azusa Community Hero, Luis Miranda, a longtime Azusa resident and now grandfather who helped out at the Azusa senior citizens’ home. Mayor Rocha said, “I want to be like Louie when I grow up.” He and Councilman Gonzales gave Mr. Miranda a plaque, certificate, and some flowers that they said were grown in Azusa. Mr. Harder also gave Mr. Miranda a plaque from the L.A. County Fair.
Mayor Rocha then called the next Azusa community hero, Alyssa Zamora. Miss Zamora was a sophomore at Gladstone High School and the Associated Student Body (ASB) vice president there. Before high school she went to Slausen Middle School in Azusa just like Mayor Rocha and Councilman Gonzales long before her. While there, she noticed that part of the street near the school had no sidewalk. People, including children and mothers with strollers, had to walk on the street to get by and there’s a lot of car traffic on that street because it isn’t far from the 210. Miss Zamora persistently lobbied to the city council and whoever else needed lobbying to get a sidewalk built. This year, it was built as a permanent monument to her efforts. Many people are now safer thanks to her. Like Mr. Miranda, they gave her a plague, certificate, and Azusan flowers. Mr. Harder gave her a Fair plaque and Miss Zamora thanked everyone for coming to support her. Now it was time for Chino to award their community hero awards. The mayor of Chino acknowledged both Chino and Azusa in the audience. He was joined by several others including the state assemblywoman from the Chino area. We stayed long enough for them to award the first community hero award and then left to see more of the fair.
We went to building 8 nearby to see the Jurassic Planet exhibit. They had all these actual-size animatronic dinosaurs that moved slightly and smoothly and also roared. Each was labeled with its name and name origin. Most were as tall or taller than people. There was Suchorusaurus (sp?) whose name means “crocodile mimic” because its head looked like that of a crocodile. The Compsognathus were these little thin dinosaurs that were about one foot tall. The goat-like Parasaurolophus had a sleek horn on its head and some hatching babies squirming around nearby. The largest dinosaur was the very big and tall Tyrannosaurus Rex whose name means tyrant lizard king. I was surprised how thin the Tyrannosaurus looks from the front in contrast to looking so big from the side. It was facing off against the armored Torosaurus (bull lizard) that looked a bit like a Triceratops only with two horns instead of three. There was Dilophosourus that they had colored bright green (I’m not sure whether anyone really knows what color the dinosaurs were) and the birdlike Muttaburrasaurus from the Muttaburra area of Australia. There were many other dinosaurs there from Africa, Europe, and South America. In the rest of Building 8 they had booths selling dinosaur- and science-related merchandise. Fossil fun was a sandy area where kids could hunt for buried fossils.
We left Building 8 and started looking for a place to get dinner. There were many options including barbecue, Italian food, and seafood. My wife saw a place selling buffalo chicken sandwiches. I got distracted checking out a place that sold scooters and power wheelchairs called Scooterville. I wondered if they were a Medicare supplier of durable medical equipment (DME). Finally I decided to have a turkey leg for lunch since I hadn’t seen them anywhere else except Disney’s California Adventure. My wife had a rib eye sandwich. We both enjoyed our dinners. The turkey leg had a great smoky flavor, though it also had more bones than I expected. It was a lot of food and I couldn’t quite finish all of it. We sat at some tables near the karaoke booth outside. A man sang “Disco Inferno” and did a pretty good job even though he said it was difficult. Another sang the epic song “The Day the Music Died”. Another did a soulful version of Elvis Presley’s “The Wonder of You”. The last song we heard and watched was a guy singing “Beginnings” by Chicago. The words showed on a screen so we in the audience could sing along.
It was after 7 pm and getting dark. We figured we should make our way back to the Yellow Gate to catch the shuttle to the Metrolink station. While walking down Magnolia Street we still couldn’t find the place Italian Ice Cream that sold the Colossal Gelato. Nor did we locate CB’s Cupcakes that sold the muffin-size cupcakes. We didn’t have time to see the Apple Orchard or the cooking demonstrations at the Fairview Farms section. But we still got to see and do a lot. The fair was still going strong. It wouldn’t let out until 12 or 1 am and I’m sure there was a big name act performing on the End of Summer Concert Series Stage. Back near the Yellow Gate we went to the photo place and gave them our ticket. But we didn’t like how the photo turned out. It was only 7:15-7:20 pm. We exited the gate and walked to the right where we thought the shuttles were parked. There were many pedicabs vying for the business of ferrying people to their cars. The parking lot was even more crowded than when we arrived.
We found the shuttles to the right and the driver of the first one directed us to the one for Metrolink. They all looked the same. The Metrolink shuttle left right away even though it was early, and took us to the covered waiting area near the Fairplex Metrolink station. There were other people waiting there. The Metrolink staffers announced that the 7:47 pm train to San Bernadino was late. It arrived at 7:57 pm and everyone waiting with us went to board it. About that time another shuttle arrived with two people we saw earlier on the train in the morning. Our westbound train arrived after 8 pm, late due to the other train being late. We all boarded and this time couldn’t see much out the windows since it was dark. We were back at the Covina station in seven minutes.
Wow, this has to be one of the longest blogs I’ve written. I didn’t realize that we did so much at the fair in a little over seven hours. All this and we only did a small fraction of what was available. We didn’t see any of the farm animals or farm features except perhaps the Budweiser Clydesdale horses. But then again I had seen a lot of farm animals at the Puyallup Fair many years ago. We missed some of the food items we had heard about but we had lots of interesting fair food. Getting the fair experience was the main idea. It helped to plan ahead. We probably won’t be back for a few years at least. Now we have the memory preserved.
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