Clark County Fair serves up tradition on first day

If you go

• What: Clark County Fair.

• Hours Saturday: 10 a.m. to 11 p.m.

• Where: 17402 N.E. Delfel Road, Ridgefield.

• Admission: Adults, $11; seniors 62 and older, $9; kids 7-12, $8; kids 6 and younger, free. Parking, $6. C-Tran shuttle, free from area Park & Ride lots.

• Carnival: Opens at noon.

• Highlights: John Kay and Steppenworf perform in the grandstands, free with fair admission, at 7 p.m.

• Other: Watermelon-eating contest at 2 p.m.; draft horse exhibition, 2 to 4 p.m.

• Pets: Not permitted, except for personal service animals or those on exhibition or in competition.

• Information: www.clarkcofair.com or 360-397-6180.

RIDGEFIELD — Surounded by his family, 3-year-old Colt Potter gobbled down bites of pancakes and yogurt at the Clark County Fair.

Colt, whose cheeks were stained with sticky syrup, was the youngest member of the Potter clan, and he joined a tradition predating his birth by more than a decade. The family — made up of grandparents John and Kathy Myers, their daughter Colleen Potter and Potter’s three children, Colt, Brooke, 6, and Luke, 7 — have been attending the pancake breakfast since 1998.

“It’s part of Americana,” John Myers said of the fair, which kicked off its 10-day run Friday.

Colt, meanwhile, was most excited to ride the “loop-de-loop,” translated by his mother as the children’s roller coaster.

The annual free pancake and sausage breakfast, sponsored by Fred Meyer, is a family tradition for thousands of Clark County families, fair spokesman Matt Ferris said. Gate admission and the pancake breakfast were free for those who picked up a coupon available in advance at Fred Meyer stores. Paid admission to the fair is $11 for adults and $8 for children.

“It’s a good way to get into the fair,” John Myers said of the pancake breakfast. “It’s free.”

The line for hot pancakes and sausage looped through vendors, carnival games and around the fairgrounds Friday, and though fair officials were unable to estimate just how many people attended, Ferris said the breakfast typically brings between 15,000 and 20,000 people through the gates before noon.

“It’s probably one of the most coveted events at the fair,” Ferris said. “If it ever goes away, have mercy on me.”

Some people, Ferris said, start lining up as early as 3 a.m.

“It’s almost one of those things where unless you experience it, you just don’t believe it,” he said. “It makes the opening of the fair super, super exciting.”

A few table away, three generations of the Jimenez family gathered for the breakfast.

Maria and Fernando Jimenez, their children Patricia, 24 and Fernando, 12, and Patricia’s daughters Kaylani, 3, and Miley, 1, downed their breakfasts.

“We’ve just made it a tradition,” the elder Fernando Jimenez said. “It’s a family get-together. We like to watch the kids play.”