Fair Hair

CASEY RESSLER

Valley Life editor

George Rothman could only shake his head Friday night, as his teenager proudly showed off her new hairstyle, which consisted of three large spikes, all painted a different color.

No, it wasn't another rebellious teen trying to get one over on her parents. It was just a teen having fun - at the Alaska State Fair, where "fair hair" means outlandish colors, lots of hairspray and anything but your ordinary 'do.

"I hope she knows that this is for one day, and that she better never come home looking like that anytime other than the fair," Rothman joked.

Rothman's daughter, 13-year-old Susanna, said she looks forward to the wild hair every year.

"It's the first thing we do when we get here," she said Friday night. "I think it's cool."

From toddlers to those in their 70s, the colored hairspray is too much to resist, evidently. Gay Wolfenberger, 46, stepped off the platform of Rae's on Friday with a multi-colored spike. She was part of a mother-daughter team - and she was the daughter. Her mother, 68-year-old Sharon Andrew, had higher spikes and brighter colors, proving that at the fair, you're never too old to have fun.

"What do you think of it?" Andrew asked. "Looks pretty good for a woman my age, doesn't it?"

Some opt for the wild hair/facepainting combination, which gives a full facial display. Tommy Grewer, 8, had the look of a lion as he roamed the fairgrounds with his parents Friday. His hair was yellow and black, and his face was painted to match.

"A lion is the king of the jungle," he said. "Did you know that?"

Whether you knew it or not doesn't matter - for Grewer, his get-up made him feel like the king of the fairgrounds, if just for one evening.

"They think it's the coolest thing all year," Grewer's mom, Patricia, said. "That's what we're here for, to have fun. Let 'em do it."

The worst part of getting a wild hairstyle, however, is going home.

"It washes out OK, but the glitter is hard to get out of your hair," Susanna Rothman said. "You have to take a couple of showers before it is all out of your hair."

Patricia Grewer agreed, but added that getting her two boys - her other son is 10 - into the bathtub is like, well, trying to corral a couple of lions. "If it was up to them, it would wear off instead of being washed off," she said. "But they're getting scrubbed once we get home."