By:SUSAN LIN
Livestock shows, the Ferris wheel and cotton candy at the Belmont Stakes Fair.
Instead of elevating your mind with a Shakespeare play or a Beethoven symphony, check out the "Randall's Racing and High Diving Pigs" show this weekend at the Belmont Stakes Fair in Elmont, which runs through May 6.
Virgil Randall, who lives in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas, will be on hand to demonstrate to Long Islanders that pigs are far from the dirty, lazy beasts stereotyped by the media.
"Pigs are naturally runners. They call the white ones Yorkshire Land Runners. In the wild, they're one of the fastest animals running," said Randall, who raised his performing hogs, along with other livestock, on his farm in Ozark.
At Belmont, Arnold Schwarzenpigger, Jean-Claude Van Ham, and other fighter-named pigs will compete against each other for a prize at the finish line: some grapes, ice cream, or a few cookies. "They love Oreos," observed Randall.
Apparently, pigs aren't only swift: Visitors to the fair will also learn that they can dive. From a kickboard set 10 feet high, Randall's porky fellows will jump nose first into a pool of water.
If that triggers thoughts of notifying animal rights organizations, first consider Randall's point that "You could empty that tank, put the pig up of there, and he would never jump off."
According to Randall, "A pig is a natural water animal. In the wild, pigs jump off cliffs higher than [10 feet]. He has to be in the water because he doesn't have sweat glands to regulate his body temperature."
Randall said people often ask him if he pushes pigs off the diving board as part of the training. His answer is no. "If you ever push him off, he's not going to feel good and he's not going to do nothing for you. That's one animal you don't force. You have to let him do it on his own," Randall said.
Randall does prepare his pigs for the show, though. "The larger pigs have always been doing it, so what you do is you always put your younger pigs on [the kickboard] after your larger pigs. They just follow them like 'Follow the Leader.'"
"Randall's Racing and High Diving Pigs" show plays three or four times on each day of the fair. "I enjoy seeing the kids faces when I do it," said Randall, who is 61.
Although it's the main attraction at the Belmont fair, Randall's livestock competition lasts only 20 minutes. The options for the rest of the day include classic rides such as a log flume; a giant wheel, which brings you up about 12 stories; and the Mark 1 roller coaster, featuring a four-story drop.
"There definitely are a few thrill rides there, but families are really what we're trying to do," said Brian Schuman, fair manager at Fair Productions, the Old Bethpage-based company behind the Belmont Stakes Fair. By a "family" ride, Schuman means attractions such as the log flume or Ferris wheel that "parents and kids can ride together."
The Belmont fair is also packed with kid-friendly live entertainment. One act is the Grandpa Cratchet Puppet Show, which is a puppet by that name who drives around the midway talking with people. "He's an old country kind of puppet," said Schuman.
Schuman said what distinguishes this fair from others is not just the rides, shows, and attractions, though. "It's much cleaner and classier" than other fairs in the area, he said. "A crew of 20 to 25 people clean up all day long, emptying garbage cans, sweeping up."
"Everything we do is geared towards families," said Schuman.
