REGION: Food, fun greet crowds at fair's opening day
The smell of funnel cakes and chili dogs wafted through the air Saturday. The sound of laughter and screams bounced off walls. People paid $1 each to gawk at the sight of a humongous, 3,049-pound horse.
Yep, the Southern California Fair is back in action.
The annual fair, which features arena motor sports, carnival rides, livestock and exhibits, kicked off another round of fun Saturday at the Lake Perris Fairgrounds, where thousands of area families converged on the action.
The Butlers of Temecula were part of that crowd, one of many families to take advantage of the free admission into the fair between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. Saturday, offered in honor of the city of Perris' 100th birthday. The first 100 minutes of carnival rides were free, too, to fete the milestone.
"It's kind of fun," said Latoya Butler, 23, after she rode the merry-go-round with her 4-year-old son and 4-year-old nephew. "It's really nice to take them out for a good time."
The fair is set to offer a lot of the same fun it always does: demolition derbies, monster trucks, flower and garden show, live entertainment on a variety of stages peppered throughout the fairgrounds. And, of course, fair food.
The event itself was organized by Allen and several friends: Amy Falk, Becky Fink, Jennifer Buckner and Barb Farsing, who formed the The Friends of Elroy committee after Urbanus was diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's disease)
