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Each year the L.A. County Fair honors Community Heroes – young adults and adults – from 18 surrounding cities during the 23 days of the Fair, Sept. 4 – Oct. 3. Friday, Oct. 1 is Fontana Day at the Fair, a day for celebrating volunteers, humanitarians, students, neighbors and community organizations working to make their city a better place to live for everyone.
Fontana Day festivities include a parade down Broadway featuring civic organizations and school bands. A presentation will be held on the Building 4 Stage following the parade to honor Fontana’s Community Heroes for 2010, junior hero Trevor Pascoe and adult hero Daniel Quiroga.
Junior hero Trevor Pascoe volunteers in the emergency department at Kaiser Permanente Hospital in Fontana. Independent, reliable and trustworthy are words used by Kaiser director of volunteer services Donna Jones to describe Trevor. He coordinated a canned food drive at AB Miller High School for God Always Provides food bank, which resulted in nearly 4,000 pounds of canned food donations. He even dressed up as Can Man, going class to class to encourage students to donate. He was involved in sports, choir and drama. His positive attitude and leadership skills will serve him well as he prepares to study medicine.
Adult Hero Daniel Quiroga is an eighth grade algebra and physical science teacher at Fontana Middle School. He has a passion for enriching the lives of young people by introducing them to new experiences that would normally be out of their reach. Quiroga formed the Eighth Grade Travel Club at Fontana Middle School, which has been responsible for trips to Washington D.C., New York City and Philadelphia. Fundraising for the club takes the entire year. Quiroga and his students have raised funds through rummage sales, bake sales and soliciting merchants, city council members and the fire and police departments to help out. Each trip has cost about $50,000, all of which Quiroga and his students raise themselves. Quiroga also directs the school’s Husky Club (named after the Washington Huskies college team) which offers local social trips to amusement parks, sporting events and the beach, places many of the students have never seen. Quiroga also assists students with the school’s yearbook. He has spent his furlough time and summer vacation in Colombia, raising funds for orphaned children.
Fontana residents, friends, family and supporters can join their community celebration on Oct. 1 for just $5 before 5 p.m. with a coupon or voucher available on the community page at lacountyfair.com. Coupons are also available at the Fontana Chamber of Commerce, City Hall and other community locations. Come for the Fair; stay for the community festivities: parade at 5 p.m. and hero presentation at 5:30 p.m.
The L.A. County Fair opens Labor Day weekend, Sept. 4 – 6 and then Wednesday – Sunday, Sept. 8 – Oct. 3, closed Mondays and Tuesdays. Live thoroughbred horse racing at Fairplex Park will be Sept. 9 – Sept. 27, dark Mondays Sept. 13, 20 and Tuesdays.
For information about ways to save at the Fair, visit lacountyfair.com.
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Under the direction of the Los Angeles County Fair Association, Fairplex is home to the L.A. County Fair, the largest county fair in the world, as well as The Learning Centers which encompasses Fairtime Learning, The Child Development Center, The Career and Technical Education Center (CTEC), the Junior Fair Board, and the Millard Sheets Center for the Arts. Fairplex also operates a diverse hospitality business with the Sheraton Fairplex, McKinley’s Grille, KOA RV Park, Finish Line Sports Grill, Cornucopia Foods, and the Sheraton Fairplex Hotel and Conference Center (opening 2011). The campus is also home to the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum and the Auto Club Raceway at Pomona; horse-racing and Barretts Equine Limited; as well as the Los Angeles International Wine & Spirits Competition. For more information, please visit www.fairplex.com.
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