Wearing matching green T-shirts and with clipboards in hand, a half-dozen community members quizzed every concessionaire at the Santa Cruz County Fair Wednesday on their recycling habits and energy use.

A light drizzle and heavy gray clouds greeted visitors to the opening day of the Santa Cruz County Fair on Tuesday, but spirits were not dampened by the weather, nor was attendance.

The skies were gray, the mood anything but as the Santa Cruz County Fair opened Tuesday.

Hundreds of people strolled the grounds, squealed at the 12 piglets and their mom in the livestock barn, splurged on cinnamon buns and oohed and aahed over exhibits ranging from pumpkins to photography.

With each little scoop of dirt she shoveled in the blazing Saturday sun, 12-year-old Emily Lopez got a little closer to wrapping up her final entry in the fair, a youth garden in the Floriculture Department.

The Santa Cruz County Fair opens at noon Tuesday and fair manager John Kegebein sees an increase in enthusiasm and is predicting a "great fair".

The Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds were abuzz with activity Monday as workers and volunteers prepared for Tuesday's grand opening.