Youths: Fair is place to be

The Octopus seemed like the ride of choice for teenagers looking for a thrill at the Roosevelt County Fair.

CMI photo Christina Calloway

Portales High School drum line members entertain the crowd to raise money for their band at the Roosevelt County Fair Friday afternoon. From left: James Idsinga, Marcos Lopez, Eric Sawyer, Edgar Estrada and Ty Bergman.

Portales Junior High School student Zackery McClendon said that was clearly the best ride, but his friend Korbin Baldridge had his eyes set on the Ferris wheel for other reasons.

"I have to kiss a girl tonight on the Ferris wheel," Baldridge vowed, adding he was close to getting one last year but didn't.

Baldridge and his crew walked the fairgrounds like they owned them and from their confident attitudes to the Portales High School drum line that played elsewhere on the grounds, it was evident that youth ruled the fair Friday night.

Bryce Hoover said he did not have the same plans as his friend Baldridge.

"I came to have fun," Hoover said. "I've got to keep it innocent, because my parents read the paper."

While Baldridge and friends were looking for the girls, Portales High School student Tori Alvarado said she and her friends came to socialize.

"(Friday night is) just when everyone's got to be here," Alvarado said.

Alvarado walked the fair with her girlfriends Kamryn McClary and Arcelia Serrano. They said there was more rides than last year but they still weren't good enough.

"There's only a couples of rides that I'd actually but other than that, the selection is not good," Alvarado said. "There needs to be more appropriate rides for our age group."

Serrano said the only ride that looked fun was The Octopus.

"People said it made them sick and I want to see if it makes me sick," Serrano said, at which point her friends told her she could not sit near them on the ride.

The Portales High School drum line supplied the earlier entertainment of the evening. The infectious beats and rhythm they made had quite a few people dancing in the bleachers and younger children stomping their feet.

The five students who played Friday night said they were raising money for their drum line. Other members walked around the fair and sold sodas to raise funds.

"I think we've made about $400 so far," said Ty Bergman about the group's fundraising efforts. He hopes that amount will climb within the last two days of the fair.

Mia Washington, 5, traveled to Portales from Dallas to enjoy the fair with her older brother Lester Washington.

CMI photo: Christina Calloway

Lester Washington, an airman stationed at Cannon Air Force Base, enjoys the Ferris wheel with his younger sister Mia Washington, at the Roosevelt County Fair Friday evening. Washington's family came to visit him from Dallas before his deployment.

Lester is currently an airman at Cannon Air Force Base and was happy that his family came to visit.

The Washington siblings started off their ride adventure with the classic Ferris wheel.

"It feels good to see them," Lester said. "I'm deploying someday soon so I'm glad I got to see them before then."