CRAFTS, CARNY FAIR NOT REAL DEAL.

Byline: CAROL ROCK

valleynews.com user

First, the San Fernando Valley Fair moves to the Saugus Speedway, which is far away from the San Fernando Valley. But since we don't have a Santa Clarita Valley Fair, we're game and welcome our visitors. We've put up with bicyclists, golfers and cowboys in the past few months, so what harm can a few agricultural folks be?

In fact, I know some people who were looking forward to visiting the fair. It would be at least an hour closer than trekking out to Pomona for the L.A. County Fair to enjoy that dangerous fatty fair food, carnival rides and animals. Set for June 7, the Valley Fair is also a few months sooner than the Antelope Valley Fair, scheduled later this summer.

Fairs have their own atmosphere that just can't be duplicated. There's nothing like the aroma of a pig pen, or the feel of the smooth hide of a cow's neck. And it's always fun to visit with the 4-H kids who sit anxiously near the pens watching their animals before the livestock auction they've worked toward for the last year or so.

Some kids deliver pizza to earn college money. Others raise livestock. It's a lot of work and they deserve their moments of glory. Politics seem to have snatched that away.

This San Fernando Valley Fair will arrive sans animals. No hogs, chickens or goats; no rabbits groomed meticulously, no guinea pigs or sheep bleating to match the chorus of cars traveling down Soledad Canyon Road.

Warring neighborhoods -- not even our own at this point -- and disgruntled committee members are sounding the death knell of the most critical skills that build responsibility and form character -- the raising of animals that, whether we like it or not -- provide us with food, clothing and other goods we couldn't do without.

On top of that, animals are cute. But the 4-H kids -- some of them carrying on family traditions passed on for generations -- are finding barn doors slamming shut everywhere they turn. It's a crying shame that there is no room at the stable (oh, wait, that's been torn down) for visitors to see these stalwarts of Americana.

Depending on who you listen to, it's a cost factor (the Speedway wants $45,900 to set up the livestock) or a space issue at Pierce College to hold livestock events offsite (a suggested alternative that turned out to be unresearched and unplanned and therefore not happening). Bottom line, the fair people are proposing an animal-free fair.

Why bother? It's simply not a fair without the livestock. Period.

Not only are they cheating us out of seeing the animals, but they're also threatening the livelihood of dozens of young people who have worked hard for a payoff that seems endangered because this group doesn't want the fair in their backyard or another group can't adequately plan an event.

You hear people complain that kids don't aren't responsible. Then why take away an opportunity for them to learn some life skills they can't get anywhere else? Too many of our children think meat comes neatly wrapped at their favorite grocery store and that eggs magically appear at the farmers market. Let's not lose those lessons in the name of poor planning.

According to the Web site of the 51st Agricultural District, the San Fernando Valley Fair is dedicated to: "...producing an event preserving the (Valley's) agricultural heritage and enhancing corporate and technological advances, while promoting educational and competitive exhibits and providing wholesome family entertainment."

Sounds to me like there are animals involved. In recent years, it's been up to historic parks -- William S. Hart Park in Newhall and the Leonis Adobe Museum in Calabasas -- to provide children with a taste of life on the farm. Thousands of students from all over Southern California flock to both parks to pet cows and feed ducks, most of them never having seen the animals that used to roam freely where condos, schools and shopping malls now stand.

Without the animals, it will become just the San Fernando Valley Craft and Carny Fair. And that's something I really don't want in my backyard.