Judges' choice: Using charred wood from the October wildfire that burned within 100 yards of her home, Dulzura resident Chelsea Mottola took a first place in woodworking in the Kids' Best department for her guitar stand.
Background: Chelsea, 16, is a junior at Steele Canyon High School. She said her mother found an old guitar in their barn and, as part of a 4-H project, Chelsea planted flowers inside it. After the fire, she found sticks of burned manzanita, sanded them, used polyethylene to make them shiny and crafted them into a stand for the guitar.
How she got started: Beginner's luck, she said. This was her first woodworking project and the first time she had entered anything in the fair.
Comment: “I'm thinking about making a coffee table and doing something more.”
Tip for learning more: Chelsea recommends taking woodworking classes and joining 4-H.
TODAY'S PICKS
Grandstand Stage: Earth, Wind & Fire, 7:30 p.m.; concert tickets at $25 to $99 include fair admission.
Summer of Sports Exhibit: San Diego Chargers Day.
Highlights: dairy milking demo, 1:30 p.m., livestock barn; best animal noise, 11 a.m., O'Brien Stage; Satisfaction/A Rolling Stones Experience, 9 p.m., Coors Light Rock On Stage.
FAIR FACTS
Through July 6 at the Del Mar Fairgrounds, 2260 Jimmy Durante Blvd. Closed Monday. Gates are open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Admission: adults, $12; seniors 62 and older, $6; children 6 to 12, $6; children 5 and younger, free.
Information: (858) 793-5555; (858) 755-1161; www.sdfair.com/fair.
On-site parking: cars and motorcycles, $9; recreational vehicles, $15; preferred parking, $15; no motor homes.
Off-site parking: free, with shuttles from 9 a.m. to midnight. Del Mar Horsepark, 14550 El Camino Real, daily; MiraCosta College San Elijo campus and Torrey Pines High School, weekends and July 4.
Public transportation: hourly buses to and from the Escondido Transit Center. A shuttle between the Solana Beach train station and the fair leaves every 25 minutes. Passengers with a Breeze bus or Coaster train ticket receive a $1.75 fair admission discount at the west gate. Information: (760) 966-6500 or www.gonctd.com.
NEWSROOM
AT THE FAIR
The San Diego Union-Tribune's Newsroom at the Fair exhibit is in the Paddock Lounge next to Plaza de Mexico near the Grandstand entrance.
Meet Night & Day editor Michael Crowell and Currents Weekend editor David Coddon, 1 to 4 p.m.
Explore the technology that brings you the daily newspaper, Today's Local News, Enlace, multimedia site SignOnSanDiego.com and AmplifySD.com, the all-San Diego music online radio station.
Tune to “U-T in the Community” and “Community Spotlight” on SignOn Radio LIVE, hosted by Drew Schlosberg on Tuesdays and Fridays (except July 4).
Online: For fair news and information, go to fair.uniontrib.com
