Fair's final act

Ten-year-old Tsuyoshi Enokida of Japan got the full county fair experience Monday when he spent the day riding the Tilt-A-Whirl, eating French fries, petting farm animals and dancing the polka.

"The music and dancing are really fun," Enokida said. "American people are very kind."

Enokida and nine other exchange students visiting Santa Rosa from Kagoshima, Japan, took in the Sonoma County Fair on the final day of its two-week run.

The fair posted a slight gain in total attendance this year, with 307,595 people turned out over 14 days, said fair manager Tawny Tesconi. That's a half a percent increase over last year's total, she said.

"For the economy being the way it is, people seem very happy," Tesconi said. "People are able to have great family memories and not dig too deep into their pockets."

When the fair opened July 22, security became a concern for some after a 13-year-old boy was stabbed at the carnival. The wound was not life-threatening, and two young men suspected in the incident were arrested at the fair two days later.

Police and security patrols were beefed up, and Tesconi said no major problems occurred after that violence.

Overall, five arrests were made at the fair, including those of the stabbing suspects, 19-year-old twins Fabian and Damian Rosales of Geyserville, said Police Lt. Gary

Negri.

One person was arrested for providing false identification, another for lying to a police officer and another for challenging someone to a fight.

About 25 people were removed from the fair, typically for wearing gang colors, Negri said.

"We operate on a zero-tolerance policy, and the fair does too," Negri said. "Other than the first night, with the stabbing, it went well."

On average, 10 Santa Rosa police officers were assigned to the fairgrounds each night, in addition to uniformed and plainclothes officers from the property crimes and gang units and probation and parole officers, Negri said.

Security guards hired by the fair kept a high security profile as well in their bright yellow sports shirts, Negri said.

The numbers of police and security guards kept the fair a secure event, Negri said. "I like having a high visibility of officers. They deter anything that could happen and are there if anything does," he said.

For fairgoers such as Giulia Zunino of Windsor, the security presence helped allay safety worries.

"Everywhere you look, you see security guards," Zunino said.

That police presence -- and the horse races -- kept her coming back. Zunino attended the fair seven times since its opening day, one of the many repeat visitors Tesconi credits with making the fair a success.

In addition to horse racing, the fair offered concerts by acts such as Menudo, Clay Walker and Three Dog Night, destruction derbies, livestock auctions, rodeos, freestyle motocross, the Hall of Flowers and an enormously popular 9-foot-tall toothpick sculpture of San Francisco.

The fair was definitely a unique experience Monday for Enokida and the other students who are on an 18-day trip sponsored by Cultural Homestay International, a nonprofit educational exchange program founded in Sonoma County.

The youngsters were all smiles after dancing to Big Lou's Polka Casserole.

"In Japan, they have a lot of festivals, but it's nothing like this," said program coordinator Karen Perry.

You can reach Staff Writer Tracie Morales at 521-5274 or tracie.morales@pressdemocrat.com. Staff Writer Laura Norton contributed to this report.