September 29 – The 174th Fryeburg Fair kicked off Sunday with all the usual trappings of fair food and carnival rides and a jam-packed agricultural event.
Sunday’s festivities included horse, poultry, dairy goat and flower shows, a fire parade, ox pulling and more – all before noon.
Hundreds of people crowded into a barn for the aptly named “pig fight,” an event in which twelve local children unleash gunny sacks on ten pigs. What followed was a mad rush of kids catching squealing pigs – which they could keep or sell back to farmers for $40.
Others sat in the stands to watch John Simmons, owner of Stoneheart Farms in west Paris, coach his two border collies, Maisie and Bea, in duck herding. Simmons and his wife Doreen have traveled to various trade shows over the past decade to educate people about the important role sheepdogs play in agriculture.
“We usually do this with sheep, but there isn’t enough room inside, so we do this with ducks,” John Simmons said.
Maisie, 11, and Bea, 4, lead the group of quacking Indian runner ducks in figure-eight formations in and out of cones, then into the center of a hula hoop.
“These dogs need to be mentally and physically occupied,” Simmons told the crowd.
Meanwhile, around 3,000 animals were prepared, sheared, washed and trimmed into blue ribbons for their glittering moments in the show ring.
Includes a handful of chestnut Oberhasli dairy goats, shown by 8-year-old Amelia Enos for Worth the Wait Farm in Denmark. Her mother, Leiann Enos, said Amelia has been on her family’s farm since birth.
“She just wants to make sure they’re ready to show, she walks them around, she hand-milks so she’ll help with the milking after they show,” Leiann Enos said.
The family had just finished showing at the Cumberland County Fair last week, making for a busy fair season that Amelia Enos called “a lot.”
“It’s definitely a long day and a long process, usually a long week,” Leiann Enos said. “We come here at seven in the morning and the show lasts all day, and she just loves it.”
At the cattle sheds, Emma Clement, 15, of Bucksport, prepared her steer Elmer for the 4-H Beef Steer Show. She planned to sell the bull at auction later this week.
“I’ve been coming to fairs all my life, but I’ve been doing 4-H since I was 9,” said Clement, a third-generation farmer at Roundtuit Farm in Bucksport.
Clement hoped to do well at the livestock show, but said she participates “mostly just for fun.”
“I just love interacting with animals, and helping people learn more about the animals,” Clement said.
The Fryeburg Fair continues through October 6, with many more opportunities to experience all of Maine’s agricultural offerings.
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