7/15/03 The 112th Annual Santa Barbara County Fair closed on a high note, setting records in three areas, officials said.

"It/s a record attendance, a record Junior Livestock Auction and a record carnival," said Dennis Pearson, CEO of the Santa Maria Fairpark.

From Wednesday through Sunday, the fair drew 120,007 people through the gates of the Santa Maria Fairpark. Sunday/s 45,430 people were the largest single day/s attendance.

The 2002 fair drew 115,001 people while 2001's attendance was just above 100,000.

Pearson added that this year/s gathering created no major need for law enforcement or other types of problems.

This year/s fair, with a theme of "Creating Magical Memories," occurred under sunny skies and warm temperatures, rather than the usual July marine layer. It/s the second year in a row that "fair weather" has blessed the event.

Carnival rides saw an 8 percent increase in riders this year.

During Saturday/s Junior Livestock Auction, 792 animals sold for ,1,097,218.06, Pearson said. The sale included 48 beef, 33 goats, 443 hogs, 180 sheep, 25 rabbits and 63 heifers.

4-H market beef sold for ,3.40 a pound while FFA market beef netted ,3.54. In the goat category, 4-H entries were ,1,007.14 per head compared to ,1,295 for the FFA.

For the market hogs, 4-H swine drew ,5.52 per pound while FFA entries earned ,4.84. 4-H market lambs collected ,9.42 per pound with FFA market lambs collecting ,7.99.

Rabbits drew ,254.40 per pen while replacement heifers collected ,1,780.16.

This year/s fair included no live poultry due to an outbreak of Exotic Newcastle Disease in southern California. Santa Barbara County is included in a federal quarantine issued to stop the disease/s spread. However, young competitors made model chickens of various materials and entered them in the fair.

"Most of the animals are gone from the grounds," said Sandra Burgett, small-livestock superintendent. "It looks very quiet and sad."

She deemed the silent auction of youth/s handcrafted poultry a success, with 19 items generating more than ,1,080, or an average of ,57 each.

While that/s less than a live turkey might bring in, youth didn/t have to invest as much time and money in their pretend poultry, she said.

"I think most of them are pretty happy," Burgett said.

Five teams competed in the poultry knowledge bowl, with Righetti High School FFA and Santa Ynez 4-H walking off with top honors. Officials hope to keep the successful event next year, and possibly toss rabbits into the trivia contest.

"I think the kids had fun with it," said Burgett.

The 113th edition of the Santa Barbara County Fair takes place July 14-18, 2004.

"We went a week later because it was getting too close to the Fourth of July," Pearson said.

Staff writer Janene Scully can be reached by e-mail at janscully@pulitzer.net