From Thursday, June 15 2006 - 10:00am To Sunday, June 18 2006 - 10:00pm Every day
In keeping with the theme, "A Fair to Remember," the event, which opens at noon Thursday for a four-day run, aims to please all ages.
The staples of a county fair -- the livestock shows, cooking demonstrations, horticultural exhibits and carnival rides -- continue to anchor the event. But the 2006 fair offers an array of new activities as well.
A key attraction this year, Gray said, is an interactive exhibit provided by the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. Housed in a tent on the fairgrounds, it will feature up to 50 activities for those who want to learn about nature or challenge their intellects, said Tammie Ryan, the museum's outreach coordinator.
"You could spend 10 minutes, or you could spend an hour there," she said.
Visitors can test their problem-solving skills with brain teasers, learn about the variety of live animals that will be on display or identify animals from pelts and skulls.
"We'll also do demonstrations with liquid nitrogen and dry ice," Ryan said.
The Portland-based museum has one of the largest outreach programs in the nation, providing traveling programs for fairs, festivals and schools in several western states, she said.
"It's all about fun," Ryan said, "and science is a way of learning and having fun."
Her philosophy is shared by Robert Duck, the operator of another new attraction at this year's fair, the Great American Duck Race. His name and the event are coincidence. "That is my name, and it always has been," said Duck, who raises and trains mallards at his home in Bosque Farms, N.M., about 20 miles from Albuquerque.
Duck races began as an annual event in Deming, N.M., in 1980, he said. Duck said he and his wife had a couple of ducks in their backyard, and given that their name was Duck, they decided to enter the birds.
It appears the birds and their human namesakes were born to race. Over the next 12 years, their skills won them $50,000.
"I was on 'The Tonight Show' and in the Wall Street Journal," Duck said.
His success led him to develop the traveling version of the Great American Duck Race, which he takes to more than 20 fairs, sports shows and festivals a year.
Audience members will have an opportunity to "race" the ducks, launching them on a 16-foot-long water course, but Duck has done the heavy lifting, training the birds to race. His technique for developing avian athletes is a proprietary secret.
Duck said he uses only mallards, and part of the show is dedicated to educating the audience about the wild birds. "It takes about 100 ducks to get 25 that will be really good racers," he said.
He releases the ducks that don't make the cut along the Rio Grande River, returning a number of birds to the wild each year. "Yes, I'm a member of Ducks Unlimited," Duck said, referring to the conservation group.
Fairgoers can learn about other aspects of nature through another new show and exhibit, the Amazing Rain Forest Experience, which also will occupy a tent on the fairgrounds.
For those whose fondest memories are of down-home-style competitions, this year's fair offers plenty to reinforce them, with watermelon-eating, bubblegum-blowing and Hula-Hoop contests.
Sunday, Father's Day, also will feature activities that appeal to kids and dads. Potato car races are scheduled throughout the day. Participants are encouraged to decorate potatoes to look like cars and bring them to the fair. A few pre-decorated potato cars will be available for those who come without their own "vehicles," fair manager Gray said.
Sunday also will feature the fair's longest-running contest, the John M. Studebaker Wheelbarrow Races, now in its 62nd year. Men, women, teenagers and children maneuver a load of ore through an obstacle course in an event that pays tribute to El Dorado County's Gold Rush past.
The races will begin at 6 p.m.
Musical entertainment also will evoke nostalgia, with a performance of classic rock 'n' roll by Cornell Gunter's Coasters on the Main Stage at 8 a.m. Saturday, and Starship with Mickey Thomas at 8 p.m. today, also on the Main Stage.
FAIR AT A GLANCE
Where: El Dorado County Fairgrounds, 100 Placerville Drive, Placerville
Admission: 6 and younger, free; 7 to 12 years, $4; 13 and older, $7; seniors, 60 and older, $5
Parking: $4. Free shuttle service is available between the fairgrounds and the Library-County Government Center at 345 Fair Lane, Ray Lawyer Drive parking lot and the Missouri Flat-Highway 50 park-and-ride lot.
Details: Call (530) 621-5860. For daily schedules and entertainment lineups, visit www.eldoradocountyfair.org.
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