Fryeburg Fair wraps up another great year

                FRYEBURG – “Fryeburg Fair is a national treasure. Don’t change anything.”

                Those words from a Havelock, New Brunswick, competitor summed up the feeling of many that visited Maine’s largest fair last week. The Claude Thorne family has been showing its draft horses for many years and like hundreds of farm families always look forward to coming back.

                “We have people from all over the country and the world visit our fair and tell us how much they love coming,” said President Roy Andrews Monday morning as the grounds buzzed with activity, displays came down and campers departed for home. “All through the year people tell me they can’t wait to get to the fair.”

                The state’s premiere agricultural event attracts exhibitors and competitors from throughout New England and across the country. One family brought 17 sheep from California, a 7,000-mile trip. They showed at the Big E in Springfield, MA before Fryeburg and are headed to show in Pennsylvania and Arizona before going home.

                “One of the things we’re proudest of is the quality of the animals shown here,” Andrews said. “Dairy Judge Katherine Knowlton of Virginia Tech said the animals she judged were the finest she had seen all year.” Beef Judge Kyle Rozeboom from the University of Minnesota said many of the beef he judged were cable of competing on a national level. One of those, the Supreme Champion Hereford bull raised by the Payne family of Old Homestead Farm in Hiram, is headed to a national show in Louisville, KY.
Attendance throughout the week was strong with rain Wednesday the only bad weather day. Final attendance figures calculated Monday morning showed a total daily paid attendance of 165,441, up nearly 20,000 over last year’s crowd of 145,955. The largest attendance came in 2004 when more than 200,000 people bought tickets.

                Daily attendance figures for the week are: Sunday, 18,269; Monday, 24,282; Tuesday, 13,636; Wednesday, 7,137; Thursday, 20,483; Friday, 20,531; Saturday, 39,178; and the final Sunday, 21,925. Those numbers don’t include lifetime memberships, seniors on Tuesday, children under 12 and pass holders.

                Camping numbers were up over last year with more than 5,000 reservations for the 3,000 available sites. Supt. Gale Bell said the campground was at capacity for the final weekend. Before campers left, more than 1,000 made reservations for next year’s fair that runs Oct. 3-10.

                Harness Racing had a strong week with a handle (total amount bet) of $650,720, about the same as last year. Fairgoers kept the four ATM machines busy throughout the week and vendors were mixed in their reports. Some said they had a great week while others noticed that uncertainty about the economy kept sales down.

                The night shows finished off a good week with a packed house for up-and-coming country-western performer Jamie Johnson, described by one attendee as “a world class show.”

                While Bud and Jeannette Gilmore and their Smokey’s Great Shows crew were busy packing up the more than 50 rides, food joints and games for another year, fair officials were already discussing the 2010 fair.

                “We work on the fair year-round,” said Andrews, who noted that several meetings with department heads will be going on this week as well as throughout the fall “while things are still fresh in their minds.” The trustees’ meeting is held in early December followed by the state fair convention in late January and then the spring meeting in April when new projects are approved.

                “Before you know it, it will be time to do it all over again,” Andrews said with a big grin.