Orange Country Fair 2010

Did You Know? - Cinnamon (Cinnamomum verum, synonym C. zeylanicum) is a small evergreen tree belonging to the family Lauraceae, native to Sri Lanka, or the spice obtained from the tree's bark. It is often confused with other, similar species and the spices derived from them, such as Cassia and Cinnamomum burmannii, which are also often called cinnamon. ~Wikipedia

Did You Know? - A public toilet (also called a bathroom, restroom, comfort room, powder room, toilet room, washroom, water closet, W.C., public lavatory, or the bog & the John for slang) is a public toilet facility — in contrast to a private usually residential toilet room, which may be a standalone water closet, or part of a bathroom.

In American English, the term "washroom" usually denotes a public, commercial, or industrial personal hygiene facility designed for high throughput, whereas the term "bathroom" is used to denote a smaller, often residential facility with lesser throughput (i.e., often for only one person at a time to use). The word originated in the United States, but "bathroom" or "restroom" are now more commonly used (except in Chicago, where "washroom" is still standard). Two reasons some Americans prefer "restroom" over "bathroom" is that restrooms do not have bathtubs. The word "washroom" is used in the United States for a "laundry room" or utility room.

Did You Know? - Motocross is a form of motorcycle sport or all-terrain vehicle racing held on enclosed off road circuits. Motocross is derived from the French, and traces its origins to British scrambling competitions. The name "motocross" is a portmanteau derived from the words "Motorcycle" and "Cross Country". BMX, or bicycle motocross, is the equivalent sport for non-motorized dirt bikes.

Motocross was first known as a British off-road event called scrambling, which was an evolution of motorcycle trial events popular in the northern UK. The first known scramble took place at Camberley, Surrey in 1924. During the 1930s, the sport grew in popularity, especially in Britain where teams from the Birmingham Small Arms Company (BSA), Norton, Matchless, Rudge, and AJS competed in the events. Off-road bikes from that era differed little from those used on the street. The intense competition over rugged terrain led to technical improvements in motorcycles. Rigid frames gave way to suspensions by the early 1930s, and swinging fork rear suspension appeared by the early 1950s, several years before it was incorporated on the majority of production street bikes The period after the Second World War was dominated by BSA which had become the largest motorcycle company in the world. BSA riders dominated international competitions throughout the 1940s/ ~Wikipedia

Did You Know? - In 1942, the Army built the Santa Ana Army Air Base to support the U.S. effort in World War II. The base served as basic training for young cadets, who would then go on to military flight school and serve their country.

The Hangar location was originally that of the base's gymnasium. A place for cadets to recreate, relax and restore themselves before resuming their basic training regime.

In 1949, after the war had ended, the War Assets Administration sold a 150-acre parcel of the land to the Orange County Fair Board, with the gymnasium the centerpiece of the property. The board chose the gymnasium to be the heart of the fair in its first master plan and would house the most elaborate of feature exhibits in the gym. Over time, as the fair matured, the descriptor "gymnasium" fell away in favor of the name Exhibit Hall.

By 2000, Exhibit Hall had aged to the point where it had to be retired and replaced with a temporary building, serving as a place holder until the new vision of the heart of the fairgrounds could be realized.

Nearly seven decades after the gym's birth and 10 years since the Exhibit Hall's death, the Hangar now inherits and inhabits the heartbeat of the fairgrounds.

The Hangar, in its design, embraces traditional features of a gymnasium while suggesting an airplane hangar, complete with large doors opening to the blue skies, where young cadets turned pilots soared, fighting to maintain our freedom.

The Hangar will now and into the future be a place for the community to recreate, relax and restore themselves, making their lives better.

Did You Know? - A petting zoo (often called, and/or part of, a "children's zoo") features a combination of domestic animals and some wild species that are docile enough to touch and feed. In addition to independent petting zoos, also called children's farms, many general zoos contain a petting zoo. Some petting zoos are also mobile and will travel to a home for a children's party or event. Many areas have a qualified mobile petting zoo.

In 1938, the London Zoo was the first children's zoo in Europe and the Philadelphia Zoo was the first in North America to open a special zoo just for children. ~Wikipedia

Did You Know? - Llamas which are well-socialized and trained to halter and lead after weaning are very friendly and pleasant to be around. They are extremely curious and most will approach people easily. However, llamas that are bottle-fed or over-socialised and over-handled as youngsters will become extremely difficult to handle when mature, when they will begin to treat humans as they treat each other, which is characterized by bouts of spitting, kicking and neck wrestling. Anyone having to bottle-feed a cria should keep contact to a minimum and stop as soon as possible.

When correctly reared spitting at a human is a rare thing. Llamas are very social herd animals, however, and do sometimes spit at each other as a way of disciplining lower-ranked llamas in the herd. A llama's social rank in a herd is never static. They can always move up or down in the social ladder by picking small fights. This is usually done between males to see who will become alpha. Their fights are visually dramatic with spitting, ramming each other with their chests, neck wrestling and kicking, mainly to knock the other off balance. The females are usually only seen spitting as a means of controlling other herd members. ~Wikipedia

Did You Know? - Twinkies were invented in Schiller Park, Illinois in about 1930 by James A. Dewar, a baker for Continental Bakeries (now Hostess). Realizing that several machines used to make cream-filled strawberry shortcake sat idle when strawberries were out of season, Dewar conceived a snack cake filled with banana cream, which he dubbed the Twinkie. During World War II, bananas were rationed and Hostess was forced to switch to vanilla cream. This change proved so popular that Hostess never switched back to banana and still uses vanilla cream in Twinkies today. ~Wikipedia

A deep-fried Twinkie involves freezing the cake, dipping it into batter, and deep frying it to create a variation on the traditional snack cake. The deep-fried Twinkie was influenced by the deep-fried Mars bar, a variation of said chocolate bar, which was invented in Stonehaven, Scotland.

Did You Know? - Powerbocking is the act of jumping and running with elastic-like spring-loaded stilts. For some it is an extreme sport, for others it is a form of exercise or even a means of artistic expression. The use of the stilts to perform extreme jumping, running and acrobatics is known as 'Bocking' or 'PowerBocking' after the inventor.

The stilts themselves are often referred to generically as bocks or powerbocks, or by their brand name. Each boot consists of a foot-plate with snowboard type bindings, rubber foot pad which is also commonly called a hoof, and a fibreglass leaf spring. Using only their weight, and few movements, the user is generally able to jump 3–5 ft (1–1.5 metres) off the ground and run up to 20 mph (32 km/h). They also give the ability to take up to 9-foot (2.7 metres) strides. ~Wikipedia

Did You Know? - Stilts are poles, posts or pillars used to allow a person or structure to stand at a distance above the ground. Walking stilts are poles equipped with steps for the feet to stand on, or straps to attach them to the legs, for the purpose of walking while elevated above a normal height. In flood plains, and on beaches or unstable ground, buildings are often constructed on stilts to protect them from damage by water, waves or shifting soil or sand. Stilts have been used for many hundreds of years.

Did You Know? - The chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus) is a domesticated fowl. As one of the most common and widespread domestic animals, and with a population of more than 26 billion there are more chickens in the world than any other bird.

Conventional wisdom has held that the chicken was domesticated in India, but recent evidence suggests that domestication of the chicken was already under way in Vietnam over 10,000 years ago.

Did You Know? - Chickens are omnivores. In the wild, they often scratch at the soil to search for seeds, insects and even larger animals such as lizards or young mice.

Chickens may live for five to eleven years, depending on the breed. In commercial intensive farming, a meat chicken generally lives six weeks before slaughter. A free range or organic meat chicken will usually be slaughtered at about 14 weeks. Hens of special laying breeds may produce as many as 300 eggs a year. After 12 months, the hen's egg-laying ability starts to decline, and commercial laying hens are then slaughtered and used in processed foods, or sold as "soup hens".[ The world's oldest chicken, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, died of heart failure when she was 16 years old. ~Wikipedia

Did You Know? - Domestic chickens are not capable of long distance flight, although lighter birds are generally capable of flying for short distances, such as over fences or into trees (where they would naturally roost). Chickens will sometimes fly to explore their surroundings, but usually do so only to flee perceived danger.

Chickens are gregarious birds and live together as a flock. They have a communal approach to the incubation of eggs and raising of young. Individual chickens in a flock will dominate others, establishing a "pecking order", with dominant individuals having priority for access to food and nesting locations. Removing hens or roosters from a flock causes a temporary disruption to this social order until a new pecking order is established. ~Wikipedia