PORT ANGELES — Children are special guests of the Clallam County Fair today.
As an opening day welcome to the four-day annual celebration, children 12 and younger get in for free today from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the fair at the Clallam County Fairgrounds, 1608 W. 16th St., Port Angeles.
In the Home Arts Building, Camp Fire USA volunteers will help children make free crafts from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
At the Kid Zone, three pedal-powered kids’ tractor pulls are planned each day of the fair at 2 p.m., 4 p.m. and 6 p.m.
Pony rides, a climbing wall and bungee jumping also will be offered for a fee.
There also will be children’s carnival rides, music, games and, of course, cotton candy.
Buildings will open at 10 a.m. each day, closing at 10 p.m. today, Friday and Saturday and at 7 p.m. Sunday.
Daily fair admission will be $8 for adults, $6 for students and senior citizens, and $5 for children age 6 to 12, with children 5 and younger admitted free.
Season passes are $24 for adults, $13 for seniors and students, and $12 for children 6-12.
The carnival will open at noon each day, closing at 10 p.m. today, Friday and Saturday and at 7 p.m. Sunday.
While guests play, hard-working 4-H members prepare and show livestock.
From 20-month-old Nate Gump bottle-feeding Patches — his 2-week-old kid goat — to 15-year old Gus Marks — who helped his cow deliver a calf Tuesday evening — children are very much the center of the agricultural life of the fair.
The Clallam County Fairgrounds animal barns are usually quiet two nights before the fair opens.
But Tuesday, a large group of 4-H members, their parents and advisers stayed late into the night when a cow went into labor in the cattle barn.
“People brought their chairs,” said cow project adviser Julie Mowbray of Port Angeles,
Bell, a 2-year-old Guernsey cow, began to show signs of being close while being clipped for the show, said Gus Marks, 15, of Port Angeles, who owns Bell and several other cattle.
“By 3 [p.m.] or 4 p.m., we knew it would be that day,” he said.
With a large audience, Marks helped Bell deliver the calf just before 11 p.m. Tuesday.
Despite being two weeks early, the brown and white bull calf with a white heart on its forehead weighed 80 pounds — 30 pounds more than the typical Guernsey calf, Marks said.
The wobbly calf is staying in a pen next to Bell.
Besides visiting the new calf, children can visit a litter of piglets in the pig barn and see the Gump family’s friendly, playful kid in the goat barn.
Nate’s two older brothers, Willie, 11, and Sammy, 9, are showing their goats. Nate isn’t, but he, like the young goats, can’t be left behind during the show.
Patches, the kid goat, is being handraised by the family after being rejected by his mother, who gave birth to triplets, mom Shirley Gump said.
Willie, a member of Home Grown and Growing 4-H Club, began preparing his eight goats Monday.
Last year, Willie’s meat goat won grand champion, but Willie had no idea where his prize ribbon went, or others he and his brother have won.
“I just like showing them,” Willie said.
Back in the cattle barn, Jordan Pegram, 16, of Forks prepared her Lowline Angus on Wednesday for her first 4-H show.
Lowline Angus are considerably smaller than the cattle most people know, standing only a little more than waist-high to most adults, with a show target weight of 700 to 1,000 pounds, far less than the modern American Angus, which weighs 1,100 to 1,300 pounds.
They aren’t miniatures, said Jordan’s father, Shane Pegram.
Lowline Angus are the original Angus breed, which was brought to the U.S. from Scotland many years ago, Shane Pegram said.
Lowline Angus are not downsized, he said. It is American Angus that have been bred to be much larger.
Lowlines are easier to handle, he said.
“Children aren’t afraid of them,” he said.
The 2011 Clallam County Fair queen will be crowned at 7 p.m. today on the Wilder Stage.
Brooklyn Bauer, Katelyn Noard and Ruby Jackson are competing for the crown.
In the competition for the queen’s crown, the three have been judged during parades and at a fair meet-and-greet.
The final judging will take place the night of the coronation.
The queen will receive a $500 scholarship, and each princess will get a $400 scholarship.
Fourth-grader Marykate Napiontek, 10, of Port Angeles is serving as Junior Royalty.
Howley Slim will perform at 3 p.m. on the Wilder Stage and at 8 p.m. at the Sunny Farms Stage.
Elvis impersonator Danny Vernon will perform at 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. on the Wilder Stage.
A draft horse and mule show, including a draft horse pull, will begin at 6 p.m. at the grandstand.
On Friday, major events include the Western Games, beginning at 9 a.m., and the children’s tractor pull at 2 p.m., 4 p.m. and 6 p.m.
Saturday’s events include the logging show at noon and the rodeo at 5 p.m.
On Sunday, the inaugural Clallam County Variety and Talent Show will be at 2 p.m. on the Wilder Stage, the Port Angeles Light Opera Association will perform the Pirates of Penzance at noon, and the rodeo will continue at noon.
Sunday’s demolition derby will begin at 5 p.m., with tickets of $11 going on sale outside the yellow gate at 9 a.m. that day.
For more information on the Clallam County Fair, visit www.clallam.net/countyfair.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at arwyn.rice@peninsuladailynews.com.