Radcliff Elementary School third graders Jacqueline Ortiz (left) and Carrie De La Cruz enjoy their ice cream cones at the Santa Cruz County Fair Friday.

“The reason you come to the fair is to eat the food,” Jon Sagen said on Friday while waiting for his Hawaiian skirt-steak sandwich to be made. “There is no other place where you have all these delicious, greasy, fried foods all lined up for you to sink your teeth in. You can clog up every vein or artery that courses through your body.”

It wasn’t yet noon and Sagen had already helped himself to a big basket of garlic fries. But he said he had to stop when he smelled the steak being grilled behind the Ben Lomond Market booth. He watched one being made, then another, but was still waiting for his chance to taste one.

“These guys came down here all the way from Ben Lomond,” he joked. “So the least we can do is show up and eat the stuff.”

Sagen was just one of thousands who shed their normal dietary standards this week and opted for the delicious, but generally more fattening, food at the fair. Corn dogs, kebabs, kettle corn, ice cream and other fare were a main attraction for many.

“Whatever is good, that’s what I’ll eat. I like the polish dogs best,” said Barney Stephens of Watsonville.

Stephens, like many locals, favors the fair’s longtime standards.

“I always hit the local booths,” Stephens said as he pointed to the Watsonville Rotary burger booth. “I like these guys and I like Jennie Mae’s Kitchen. They make great sandwiches.”

“You know what’s the best?” Sue King asked. “It’s that Rotary burger with the all the onions and the pickles. They’re just the best.”

As the week rolls on, however, the food begins to take its toll on the people who are there every day. Most who fell into this category were pretty selective by Friday. Bob Barlege, who manages public relations for Big Creek Lumber Co., sits at his booth every day teaching people about forestry and answering questions. Across the way from him are corndogs and other greasy delights.

“My being is ever-expanding, so I’m trying to control my intake,” he said. “I bring my own lunch, however, I got kettle corn yesterday to bring home. It was an order from the boss.”

“I eat (fair food) as little as possible. I brought a bag of carrots today,” said Brad Cramer, an American Medical Response paramedic who has been at the fair each day. But Cramer had obviously tasted his fair share.

“I am a big fan of the Caesar’s chicken salad at the Ben Lomond Market booth … and the brats. Then … there’s the cinnamon rolls. But it’s hard to do six days in a row.”

His partner, Jake Castro, has years of experience working the fair and his stomach seemed stronger. “I like the Corralitos sausage … everything here is good … and who doesn’t like the cinnamon buns?”

“With the cream-cheese frosting,” piped in Joy Miyoshi, the third member of the AMR crew. It was Miyoshi’s first Santa Cruz County Fair and her first funnel cake. “I’d say it was half my daily intake of calories,” she laughed.

And how was Sagen’s sandwich when it arrived?

“Yuummmm …. meets all expectations,” Sagen said.

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*Photos by Tarmo Hannula*

(Published in 9/13/08 edition)

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