Briefly in the news

-- Lolita Harper

Living in a suburban sprawl like the Newport-Mesa area, children

rarely get to experience farm life.

However, families and students can visit the Centennial Farm at the

Orange County Fairgrounds from Sept. 24 to May 31. Free tours of the farm

are open for school field trips between 9 and 11 a.m. daily.

The 90-minute tours are led by a volunteer docent who tells the

schoolchildren about the animals who live on the farm and the plants that

grow there. Teresa Mason, the Centennial Farm tour coordinator, suggests

making reservations as soon as possible. Tour dates are already booked

solid from mid-February to May 31, officials said.

Special dates have been set aside for preschools wishing to book a

trip. Those tours will be self-guided with docents available to answer

questions.

The general public is welcome between 1 and 4 p.m. weekdays and 9 a.m.

and 4 p.m. on weekends. Milking demonstrations are held at 3 p.m. daily

in the Millennium Barn.

For more information, call (714)708-1618.