Speedy pigs compete for ice cream at county fair

Cook's Racing Pigs speed around the track to win soft-serve ice cream with Oreo cookies.

The 90-foot horseshoe racetrack is laid out ahead. On one end, the starting gates are being loaded; on the other, soft-serve ice cream with Oreo cookies awaits the victor. The starting gates rattle as the athletic animals become anxious. Similarly, the tension builds in the crowd. Suddenly, the gates fly open and they’re off!

Screaming Yellow Oinker, Go-Go Green, Pork-Belly Blue and Speedracer Red tear around the track as spectators scream for their champions.

“The racing pigs is an event that just about any age group will enjoy watching,” says Launa Rabago, marketing director of the Pima County Fair, which kicks off April 16. “(Audiences) think it’s funny and entertaining. I haven’t ever recognized that pigs appeal to any certain age demographic, so we consider it an event for everybody regardless of age.”

“Cook’s Racing Pigs” at the Pima County Fair is just like any other day at the races, the pig races that is. Before each race, audience members pick a color, yellow, green, blue or red. These correspond to one of the pigs in the race. Once the race is finished, everyone who picked the color of the winning pig is awarded a blue ribbon – that proudly declares, “My Pig Won!” – and entered in a drawing for hats and shirts.

“It’s a memory that we’re able to create for the spectators at the Pima County Fair,” says Charles Cook, owner of the pig racing company. “Some folks have never won a blue ribbon before.”

Cook, 48, raised pigs as a child and teenager in the agriculture organizations 4-H and FFA. At the age of 26, Cook, whose mother owned an ice-cream shop, was asked by a representative from the California State Fair if it would be possible to train pigs to race. As it turned out, all it took was cookies and cream.

“They are very motivated by the dessert,” Cook says. “Whoever gets there first gets more, so that’s their incentive to outrun the others. They actually change positions and you can see that they’re trying hard to get there first.”

Cook’s racing pigs are different from other porkers seen around the fair, he says. Rather than being meaty and muscular, the wild breed pigs he purchases are smaller and thinner. This ensures they can fit in the starting gates for as long as possible.

Cook buys the pigs once they are weaned from their mothers – and the training begins.

“In the first day of training they walk around the track until they realize they have that reward at the finish line,” Cook says. “Then the second day, they jog. And the third day, they run.”

Once the pigs have become seasoned competitors, they tour the country, competing with one another for that grand prize of ice cream and cookies. Each pig’s career lasts about one year or, “as long as they can fit in the starting gate,” Cook says.

As is the case with any athlete, there comes a day when the pigs realize they just aren’t what they used to be. Once the racers have passed their prime, they are retired and sold to anyone wanting a legendary racing pig. Cook generally buys only female pigs and tries to sell them to breeders to create the next generation of competitors.

As far as his own retirement, Cook says he and his family still have a lot of races left in them.

“We’ll be doing this until we’re physically too old to travel down the road and our new 9-month-old son will take over the business in the future.”

Pig racing is a family affair for the Cooks, who say their 9-month-old son will take over someday.

Reality TV star and '80s rocker Bret Michaels will perform at the fair on April 25.

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IF YOU GO

What: Pima County Fair

When: April 16-26. Main Gate opens at noon on weekdays and 10 a.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Closing time is from 11:30-12:30 p.m.

Where: Pima County Fairgrounds, 11300 S. Houghton Road

Price: $7 general, $2 for 6-10 years old, $5 for parking

Info: 762-FAIR, www.PimaCountyFair.com

What: Cook’s Racing Pigs

When: daily heats at the fair are 1:40, 4:30, 6 and 9 p.m.

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CONCERTS AT THE FAIR

April 18: Country star Phil Vassar, 7:30 p.m.

April 19: norteño musician Ramon Ayala, 7:30 p.m.

April 20: youth performance troupe Breakdown Tucson, 8 p.m.

April 24: Nat and Alex Wolff of The Naked Brothers Band, 7:30 p.m.

April 25: ’80s rocker and reality TV star Bret Michaels, 8 p.m.

April 26: alt-country band Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers, 5:30 p.m.

Concerts are free with fair admission

Lila Downs' most recent CD, "Shake Away," was nominated for best world music album at this year's Grammys.

Our picks for the top entertainment events of the week

World music diva Lila Downs returns to UA

Singing in multiple languages, including Spanish and that of her Mixtec mother, Lila Downs sets her words – and those of others in her many covers – to an even greater variety of musical styles. Her September CD, “Shake Away (Ojo de Culebra)” continues the diversity with an ambitious set of blues, cumbias, folk and rock. When: 8 p.m. Saturday Where: Centennial Hall, 1020 E. University Blvd. Price: $20-$44 Info: 621-3341, www.uapresents.org

Al Perry celebrates release of country CD

Tucson institution Al Perry serves up a platter of classic country covers for his latest album, “The Three-Track Session.” The CD was recorded by Jack Miller on an old three-track recorder in Phoenix. (Miller’s production credits include Duane Eddy, Waylon Jennings, the Animals and many, many more.) “It sounds totally ’50s,” says Perry. Also on the bill with a new CD is country-rocker Cathy Rivers. Bluesman Tom Walbank rounds out the local lineup. When: 9:30 p.m. Saturday Where: Plush, 340 E. Sixth St Price: $5 Info: 798-1298, www.plushtucson.com

Tucson faves Ozomatli back at Rialto

East L.A. genre-bender Ozomatli returns to the Old Pueblo with its melange of Latin, hip-hop and pop stlyings. Opening the concert are talented local showmen Sergio Mendoza y La Orkesta, fresh from the success of their Latin dance night at the Rialto last month. When: 8 p.m. Friday Where: Rialto Theatre, 318 E. Congress St. Price: $23 advance, $25 day of show Info: 740-1000, rialtotheatre.com

Check out the latest in home decorating and renovating ideas this weekend.

Our picks for the top entertainment events of the week

SAHBA Home & Patio Show returns to TCC

Discover an array of home improvement and remodeling ideas for your indoor and outdoor living areas during this three-day show presented by the Southern Arizona Home Builders Association. More than 450 exhibitors will be on hand with services and products. When: 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday Where: Tucson Convention Center, 260 S. Church Ave. Price: $8 general, free for ages 12 and younger; discounts available Info: www.sahbahomeshow.com

Spring Fling offers thrills for 35th anniversary

Rides, midway games, food, and both amateur and professional entertainment are all part of this event, the largest student-run carnival in the nation. This year marks Spring Fling’s 35th anniversary. When: 4 p.m.-midnight Thursday-Friday, noon-midnight Saturday and noon-8 p.m. Sunday Where: Rillito Park Race Track, 4502 N. First Ave. Price: $5 admission; free with CatCard or military ID • Parking is $2, or take advantage of free shuttle service at Old Main on the University of Arizona campus and Tucson Mall. For a schedule, visit the Web site. Info: springfling.arizona.edu/Info.html

Weekend concerts benefit Tucson Folk Festival

Twenty-one bands perform Saturday and Sunday to preview and benefit the upcoming 2009 Tucson Folk Festival (May 2-3 at El Presidio Park). Musicians include Kevin Pakulis, Round the House, Batucaxe, and Ice-9. Plentiful seating under the trees, easy weekend parking. All ages. Food and full bar. Visit the Web site for a full schedule of artists. When: 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturday-Sunday Where: Old Town Artisans, 201 N. Court Ave. Price: $10 per day Info: 792-6481, www.tkma.org

Examples of some of the items from the Berlin Airlift

The Berlin Airlift of 1948/1949 was many things. It was the first major clash of the Cold War. It was one of the greatest humanitarian efforts of all time. It was a clever solution to a problem that easily could have led to bloodshed.

“I think the alternative looked very close to World War III,” said retired U.S. Air Force Gen. T. Ross Milton.

The 93-year old resident of the Splendido retirement community in Rancho Vistoso was chief of staff to the general who organized the massive effort.

Starting Tuesday and lasting through May 10, the Pima Air & Space Museum, 6000 E. Valencia Road, is hosting a traveling exhibit commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Berlin Airlift. “The Berlin Airlift – A Legacy of Friendship” tells the story of the airlift through text and historical black-and-white photos.

“In 1948 and 1949, the United States and her allies saved more than two million men, women and children in West Berlin when the Soviets blockaded the city,” Bernard Otremba-Blanc, the German honorary consul in Arizona said in a written statement. “The Airlift created a legacy of friendship between the American and German people.”

The Soviet blockade began in June 1948 and ended May 1949. The airlift began in July 1948 and continued through September 1949.

Before the end of World War II, the Allies had agreed to split Berlin into four sectors, with the United States, the Soviet Union, France and Great Britain each controlling one quadrant. Berlin was deep in the Soviet-controlled part of Germany, but the Western allies expected to be allowed access to the city.

In May 1948, in an attempt to force the West out of Berlin and force the citizenry to accept communism, the Soviets blocked all rail, water and highway routes through East Germany to West Berlin.

The Americans weren’t going to leave, short of being of forced out by war, but the allied sectors of Berlin had less than two weeks of food and other necessities on hand to sustain its two million inhabitants.

With all other routes closed, the U.S. came up with the idea of bringing food and other goods into West Berlin by air.

According to a Pima Air & Space Museum media release, during the 11 months of the Soviet blockade, the U.S. Air Force and the British Royal Air Force flew a combined 277,569 missions over Berlin, delivering 2,325,570 tons of food, fuel and supplies.

Several Air Force veterans who played roles in the airlift now make their home in southern Arizona.

Retired Air Force Col. Bill Lafferty of Green Valley flew one of the earliest flights of the mission, although he didn’t know it until a superior told him so afterward.

“‘Congratulations. You just flew the first mission for the Berlin Airlift for the group,’” a colonel informed the young Lafferty.

Retired Air Force Col. Gail Halvorsen of Elephant Head is famous as the “the Candy Bomber” for his drops of gum and candy to the children of Berlin. Although the drops were initially unauthorized, the program got the approval of the brass and provided not only sugary treats but a morale boost to the people of Berlin. It was a sign that somebody on the outside cared about their plight.

“The candy represented hope,” Halvorsen said.

Milton, however, played an even more central role in the airlift. He served as chief of staff to Maj. Gen. William H. Tunner, who was put in charge of the airlift shortly after it began.

“Tunner was the guiding genius behind the way we got through that mission. I was his chief of staff, which I had been for three or four years, so I guess I was the number two fellow there,” Milton said.

The logistical challenges were enormous. At the peak of the airlift, planes were landing in Berlin at the rate of one every 45 seconds.

“We couldn’t have possibly done the tonnage that was required to keep Berlin alive without some innovative operational practices and we devised those as we went along,” Milton said. “You could look at the airlift as kind of a giant, endless belt of airplanes, all flying at the same speed, at prescribed altitude and if they missed their approach in Berlin, they had to come home. There was no tolerance for circling and making another approach. That would have broken the belt.”

The tremendous effort by American and British forces met the Russian challenge while avoiding all-out confrontation.

“I don’t know what would have happened if we had decided to force our way in on the ground,” Milton said.

Anne T. Denogean can be reached at 573-4582 and adenogean@tucsoncitizen.com. Address letters to P.O. Box 26767, Tucson, AZ 85726-6767. Her columns run Tuesdays and Fridays.

One of the hundreds of American planes like that flown by retired Air Force Col. Gail Halvorsen of Elephant Head lands in Berlin in front of children caught in the Soviet Union blockade.

Jim and Karen Kremsreiter, of Baraboo, Wis., look over the exhibits in the traveling Berlin Airlift exhibit at the Pima Air & Space Museum.

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ON THE WEB

Pima Air & Space Museum: www.pimaair.org

Expo returning for the second year downtown at Hotel Arizona

Jon Lewis of 4 Forty 4 Tattoo does a skull tattoo on the back of Travis Shipley, 27, during last year's Tattoo and Blues show and contest at Hotel Arizona. This year's event will be April 10-12.

Tattoo artists will ply their crafts April 10-12 at the second Tucson Tattoo Expo at Hotel Arizona, 181 W. Broadway.

The event will mix local artists with tattoo practitioners from California, New Mexico and as far away as Hawaii and Virginia.

The expo is a homegrown event put on by local tattoo artists Jon Lewis and Mike Davenport. It will feature 40 booths with tattoo artists and 10 vendor booths with clothing, accessories and tattoo supplies.

Lewis and Davenport estimated that last year’s expo drew 2,000 people.

“I was tattooing the whole weekend,” said Lewis, who owns 4 Forty 4 Tattoo, 444 E. Sixth St.

Tattoos have become fully mainstream in the past decade or two.

“There’s not a stigma placed on this any more,” Lewis said. “Every demographic range has artwork on them, basically a tattoo.”

A Harris Poll survey in 2003 found that 16 percent of Americans have tattoos. A 2007 survey by the Pew Research Center found that more than one-third of Gen Nexters ages 18 to 25 have tattoos. A 2004 survey by the American Academy of Dermatology found that 24 percent of people between the ages of 18 and 50 have tattoos.

“The main purpose of the expo is for people to get tattooed by artists they have not seen before or been aware of,” said Davenport, an artist at Big Brother Tattoo, 3010 E. Grant Road. “(The tattoo artists) are qualified professionals that work in professional shops with reputations.”

The expo will have a late-night after party April 10 at Hotel Arizona featuring local bands and Black Cherry Burlesque. And local clothing shop Razorz Edge, 427 N. Fourth Ave., will put on a fashion show at the expo at 5 p.m. April 11.

“All of this stuff is so interrelated,” Lewis said. “What we do is in every facet of the world right now.”

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IF YOU GO

What: Tucson Tattoo Expo

Where: Hotel Arizona, 181 W. Broadway

When: 4 to 11 p.m. April 10; 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. April 11; 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. April 12

Admission: $10 per day, $28 for a weekend pass

Thousands are expected for the 15th annual Earth Day Festival on Saturday at Reid Park.

The theme this year is “All Species Deserve a Green Habitat.”

The event, at the DeMeester Outdoor Performance Center, Country Club Road and 22nd Street, is open to the public and will host about 50 exhibitors.

Exhibits will provide information about sustainability, environmental products, water conservation, water quality, household hazardous waste, wildlife, nature preserves and more.

There will be family-friendly activities such as face painting and hands-on activities for kids. A disc jockey will be playing tunes for most of the day.

People can get their bicycles registered or sign up for a carpool.

Patrons may also watch a parade led by Batucaxé, an Afro-Brazilian music drum/dance ensemble. The parade begins at 10:00 a.m.

Participants are encouraged to dress like plants, animals and insects.

Those in the parade are competing for the top prize. Winners are announced at 11:30 a.m.

Another competition that day will be the solar house and solar car competition.

The house judging will be from 10:45 to 11 a.m. The car judging will be from 11 to 11:15 a.m.

Students from a local middle school will race the cars from 11:15 a.m. to 1 p.m.

“This festival continues to be the most popular Earth Day event in Tucson,” said Pamela Beilke, chair of the Earth Day Festival.

Another event will be the alternative fuel vehicle show. It will feature vehicles that run on alternative fuels such as biodiesel, compressed natural gas, electric, ethanol, propane and even waste vegetable oil.

Along with the alternative fuel vehicle show, those who have volunteered with Tucson Clean & Beautiful (TC&B) will be recognized.

Bethany Hontz from Saguaro National Park will recognize those volunteers who battle buffelgrass.

There will also be performances by the Retro Rockets, Alumni from Utterback Middle School and the Shadz Band. The Retro Rockets, a 60s Rock and Roll tribute band, will play songs by The Beatles, The Yardbirds, The Turtles, the Byrds, The Young Rascals and Roy Orbison. The alumni band will play swing music.

Last year about 5,000 people attended the Tucson Earth Day Festival.

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IF YOU GO

What: 15th annual Earth Day Festival

Where: Reid Park at the DeMeester Outdoor Performance Center, Country Club Road and 22nd Street

When: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday.

Details: Call Pamela J. Beilke, Chair, 975-9426 or online at: www.tucsonearthday.org

The Reid Park Zoo is offering free admission in conjunction with the Earth Day Festival.

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WHAT IS EARTH DAY?

On April 22, 1970, 20 million people across America celebrated the first Earth Day.

Now Earth Day is celebrated annually around the globe on or around April 22.

Through the combined efforts of the U.S. government, grass-roots organizations and citizens, what started as a day of national environmental recognition has evolved into a worldwide campaign to protect the global environment.

Source: www.epa.gov/earthday

PHOENIX — Some visitors to the popular Luke Air Force Base air show were left frustrated and disappointed by traffic jams, a lack of parking and long lines at security check-ins.

About 90,000 people showed up for the March 21 air show, with an additional 125,000 on March 22, according to air-show director David Edwards.

Traffic was funneled down Glendale Avenue to parking lots, with delays in some cases as long as two hours. Electronic signs directing traffic were not always visible, and some contained wrong information.

“It was a frustrating experience for a lot of people,” said Scottsdale resident Evan Klein, who made it through the traffic maze and paid his nonrefundable $10 parking fee.

Klein turned around and left when he came up to a winding line of what he estimated to be more than 1,000 people trying to get through security and onto the Glendale base.

Klein said he had been looking forward to the air show for two years, but the private pilot and his family ended up watching a couple of performances parked along the side of a road.

The second day, Glendale police made adjustments including increased manpower, said police Lt. Brian France, who handles special-events planning for Glendale police.

Luke identified parking and hired private contractors, but “ultimately, a traffic plan has to be submitted to our transportation department,” France said. France said he and Luke officials already are talking about how to improve traffic at the next air show.

France said a record number of people attended the air show and began arriving earlier than expected.

One of two parking lots at Glendale Municipal Airport, which used a private shuttle service to take visitors to the base, did not have enough drivers scheduled early on Saturday, France said.

Plus, shuttle buses got stuck in heavy traffic.

More drivers were added and shuttle buses eventually were given police escorts.

Bruce Bayly lies on a bed of 400 nails at a past Physics Phun Night

There are three words Tony Pitucco doesn’t want to hear when he’s lying on a bed of 400 nails: Do it again.

“Kids always shout ‘Do it again!’ but you really don’t want to do that one again,” said Pitucco, laughing. “You only want to lay on nails once a year.”

Pitucco is the man behind Pima Community College’s annual Physics Phun Night, which is in its 13th year of showing that science is fun.

The show will begin at 6 p.m. Friday at PCC’s West Campus, 2202 W. Anklam Road, in the Center For the Arts Proscenium Theatre.

The Pima show is an offshoot of a similar family-friendly physics function offered by the University of Arizona each fall.

“The things we do are rather remarkable because they are outside of common sense,” said Pitucco, chair of the physics department at PCC’s West Campus. “We have a bunch of standby experiments with liquid nitrogen, lasers, aerodynamics and the kids really get into it.”

About three years ago, Pitucco and Bruce Bayly, a UA mathematics professor and Pitucco’s partner in physics crime, decided to put the experiments into skits. The skits feature Pitucco, Bayly and a Raytheon engineer who was once Pitucco’s student at Pima.

“There’s an evil scientist, of course, and a good scientist and this year it will be pirates that are going from one island to another trying to solve the mystery,” Pitucco said. “We’re extremely bad actors, but we have no embarrassment and no shame at all.”

This year’s show – titled “The Pirates of PCC” – will also have extra experiments and demonstrations in the campus’ parking lot, courtesy of the Physics Factory Bus.

“Some of the experiments we can’t do in the auditorium because of fire and things,” Pitucco said.

The purpose of the annual event is to engage students in science and to explain that while science can be hard, it’s also really fun, said Pitucco.

“We want kids to see scientists having fun,” he said. “And it works because after the show you can’t stop them from storming the stage with questions. You can keep them there until almost midnight.”

People attending Friday’s Physics Phun Night will have the opportunity to ride a hovercraft, see liquid nitrogen freeze flowers or tennis balls and, of course, see the bed of 400 nails.

Pitucco said he and Bayly take turns lying on the bed, which demonstrates how pressure is distributed across an area. Another bed of nails is placed on the person’s chest. A brick is placed on the top bed and a Pima student is asked to break the brick with a mallet.

“If there was just one nail, it would be bad, but with a lot, it isn’t painless, but it is distributed,” Pitucco said. “Still, you don’t want to do it more than once a year.”

Spring Fling is the largest student-run carnival in the United States.

Our picks for the top entertainment events of the week

Spring Fling celebrates 35th anniversary

Rides, midway games, food and amateur and professional entertainment are part of the event, the largest student-run carnival in the nation. Each year, more than 3,000 University of Arizona students volunteer to bring fun and excitement to the Tucson community while raising money for their clubs and organizations. This year marks the 35th anniversary of Spring Fling. When: Hours are 4 p.m.-midnight April 2-3, noon-midnight April 4 and noon-8 p.m. April 5. Where: Rillito Park Race Track, 4502 N. First Ave. Price: $5 admission. Free with CatCard, military ID Parking $2 Info: springfling.arizona.edu/Info.html

Last chance to attend Renaissance Festival

Hear ye, hear ye, the 21st annual Arizona Renaissance Festival & Artisan Market Place ends this weekend. You better hurry if you want to be transported back to the days of Camelot. Complete with a 12-stage theater upon which belly dancers sway and jokers jest, the festival has a little something for every member of the family. When: 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday-Sunday Where: Festival Village, 12601 E. U.S. Route 60 Apache Junction Price: adults $18 in advance, $20 at box office; $17 for seniors; $6 for ages 5-12; free to 5 and younger. Parking is free. Info: 520-463-2700, www.RenFestInfo.com Directions: Pinal Pioneer Parkway (state Route 79) to Florence Junction. West seven miles on U.S. Route 60

Roller Derby features a fight fit for a queen

It’s a battle royal between the royal babes and the Commies as the Iron Curtain takes on the Copper Queens. When: 6:30-8:30 p.m. Saturday Where: Bladeworld, 1065 W. Grant Road Price: $5-$10 Info: 390-1454, www.tucsonrollerderby.com

Jay-Z

Tickets go on sale Friday for next month’s concert by Rapper Jay-Z and “American Idol” winner Kelly Clarkson at Arizona Stadium.

Alt-rockers Third Eye Blind and Australian pop-rock act The Veronicas also are scheduled to perform at the April 29 Last Smash Platinum Bash presented by Associated Students of the University of Arizona.

Tickets – priced from $26-$200 – go on sale from 9 a.m.-noon Friday for UA students and at noon for the general public. They’re available only online at asua.arizona.edu.

For more information, call 621-2782.

The annual concert under the stars at Sabino Canyon, 5900 N. Sabino Canyon Road, is Saturday.

Four groups will perform for visitors, including the string band of the U.S. Forest Service, The Fiddlin’ Foresters.

The Tucson Arizona Boys Chorus, along with performers playing Western music and smooth jazz, will share the bill from 5 to 9 p.m.

Donations of $5 a person and $10 for a family will benefit the nonprofit Friends of the Canyon, dedicated to the enhancement of the canyon, said Heidi Schewel, media officer for the Coronado National Forest. Guests can park at no cost in the Sabino Canyon parking lot and walk a quarter mile to the performance stage. Call 749-7720 for more details.

Get your 2009 Pima County Fair ride tickets now and save!

The fair runs April 16-26, at the Pima County Fairgrounds, 11300 S. Houghton Road, but discounted ride tickets are on sale through April 16 at Fry’s grocery stores, said Launa Rabago, a fair spokeswoman.

You can get 10 rides for $10, a 70 percent discount from regular tickets. The discounted ride tickets can be used only on weekdays.

Admission is $7 for adults, $2 for children 6 to 10 years old, and free for children under 5 years old. Parking is $5.

Opening day will be free until 3 p.m. with two cans of unopened food.

Children who read three books and write a report will get a free carnival ride as part of the “Read and Ride” program which will go on throughout the fair, Rabago said.

For more information on daily discounts go to www.pimacountyfair.com.

Join a park naturalist for an easy hike to explore and experience the Sonoran Desert at night.

The night walk will be from 7 to 8 p.m. Friday.

The walk will be at Saguaro National Park East, 3693 S. Old Spanish Trail.

Dress for the weather, wear comfortable walking shoes, and bring water and a flashlight.

Park entrance fee is $10 per car.

Space is limited, advanced reservations are required.

Call 733-5153.

Shoppers walk along North Fourth Avenue near East Ninth Street during the Fourth Avenue Spring Street Fair on Sunday. About 400 arts and crafts vendors set up booths.

The 40th annual Fourth Avenue Spring Street Fair has wrapped up, after drawing an estimated 300,000 Friday, Saturday and Sunday, with mixed reviews.

Some said the money was good, even with a faltering national economy.

Other said not as much was being spent by visitors this year.

“I think we’ve had a good turnout of people. Despite all the bad news about the economy, people have decided to go to the fair,” said Kanella Conklin, owner of Kanella’s, a North Fourth Avenue clothing store.

John Sedwick, executive director of the North Fourth Avenue Merchants Association, said the word he was getting from art-booth operators was the revenue from sales at the fair were down about 20 percent.

But vendors, many of whom follow a circuit of street fairs around the country, report that revenue at other street fairs is down 30 to 50 percent, Sedwick said.

“People are not spending at the level of past years, but the artists are pleased,” Sedwick said.

Monica Cota, 34, owner of the Rustic Candle Co. said of the fair, “It’s been good, but it’s been a little slower than the winter one.” A street fair is also held along the avenue in the winter.

People are holding back, “maybe a little,” on their spending because of the economy, said Cota, whose business is on North Fourth.

But, Cota said, “in general, I think it’s going well.”

The street fair, Sedwick said, featured 400 booths, with merchants selling such things as ethnic foods from a variety of cultures, including Greek, Mexican and Thai foods. There also were a variety of arts and crafts and T-shirts being sold along the avenue.

There also were street jugglers, a kids’ hands-on art pavilion, face painting, balloons and a Ferris wheel for the kids, Sedwick said.

In past years, Sedwick said, the fair has drawn between 200,000 and 400,000 people.

The fair, Sedwick said, helps fund a number of non-profit charities each year.

Among those at the fair Sunday were Hector Garcia and his wife, Delores, in Tucson for the weekend from El Paso, Texas, to see a Diamondbacks spring training game.

With the couple was their 9-year-old daughter, Alejandra Garcia.

Sunday was her first time at the street fair and she said, “It’s good, lots of things to look at.

Her mother said the family had not bought anything at the fair other than food, but that was only because they had just arrived early Sunday afternoon.

“We just barely got here,” Delores Garcia said.

She said her family decided to come to the fair after seeing an information pamphlet about it at their hotel.

Alejandra Garcia, 9, of El Paso, Texas, enjoys some brisket on Sunday at the Fourth Avenue Spring Street Fair.

Barton has worked at Reid Park for past five years

Reid Park Zoo's Scott Barton will run the Chaffee Zoo in Fresno, Calif.

Reid Park Zoo’s general curator will leave Tucson next month to become director of the Chaffee Zoo in Fresno, Calif.

Scott Barton, 51, has been the zoo’s general curator for five years. He said he’s excited about the opportunity but sad to leave Tucson.

“Tucson’s an amazing community, and this zoo is a great resource for the community,” he said. “I will miss it very much.”

Barton will work with other zoo employees to “make sure everything is taken care of” before his departure at the beginning of May, he said.

Susan Basford, the zoo’s administrator, said that the search for Barton’s replacement will begin as soon as the city approves it.

“This position is essential and we hope to find someone that can bring as much experience, creativity and energy as Scott did,” Basford said. “We are happy for him but sad to see him go.”

Barton grew up in Fresno and graduated from Fresno State University in 1982.

His first job in a zoo was at the Roeding Park Zoo in Fresno from 1980 to 1984.