Windsor County Ag Fair Makes Comeback

There aren't many places where you can buy a “Jesus Saves” belt buckle and an ornamental sword under the same tent. What about serving a free cup of fresh milk to your 3-year-old while watching the blade of a chainsaw slice through the air? Or being entertained by an old-fashioned oxen pull and a karaoke contest at the same time?

http://www.vnews.com/07112011/7914848.htm

Published 7/11/2011
Windsor County Ag Fair Makes Comeback
By Krista Langlois
Valley News Staff Writer

Springfield, Vt. -- There aren't many places where you can buy a “Jesus Saves” belt buckle and an ornamental sword under the same tent. What about serving a free cup of fresh milk to your 3-year-old while watching the blade of a chainsaw slice through the air? Or being entertained by an old-fashioned oxen pull and a karaoke contest at the same time?

Fair season is here once again, a time of year as dependable as Christmas and perhaps more interesting. The Windsor County Agricultural Fair kicked things off over the weekend, setting off a chain reaction across the region: soon, there will be some sort of fair nearly every week until the leaves fall off the trees. Fried food on sticks and prizewinning livestock will descend upon the Upper Valley in untold numbers.

Held at Barlow's Field, the Windsor County fair bills itself as the oldest in the state and “the best little fair in Vermont” to boot. Last year, it didn't operate due to a lack of volunteer support, said organizer Eric Johnson of Reading, but this year the community rallied to get it up and running again.

“It's a year-round project,” Johnson said, noting that a committee of 15 volunteers meets once a month to plan the fair. “This year, we've got real good organizers.”

For anyone used to over-the-top extravaganzas like the annual Eastern States Exposition, the Windsor County fair does indeed seem “little” in comparison, and that's just what some people want.

“Most of the other fairs are larger, but here you don't have to walk all over to find something good to look at,” said Bob Graves, of Walpole, N.H., a dairy farmer who comes to the Windsor County fair every year. His favorite part, he says, is the oxen pull that his granddaughter judges, an event in which he too used to compete. “It's been a tradition for us right on down the line,” he added.

In addition to “old timey stuff” like the oxen pull, Graves said he comes to the fair to see old friends, like Bob Moore of Westmoreland.

Sitting together in lawn chairs, the two men scanned the crowd.

“You know that fella?” Graves asked Moore, pointing to a man in suspenders and a ball cap.

“Sure,” Moore said, “but I only see him when we go to fairs. Us old people, you know … we come here so we can see some of our neighbors before we forget who the hell they are.”

Moore said agricultural fairs are an important part of this area's cultural heritage, but he's worried for their future. “I don’t think people are turning out like they used to,” he said. “Everything costs so much to put on.”

For Johnson, the turnout -- about 4,000 visitors this year -- is just right. He has no plans to turn the event into a home show or carnival: just a few midway rides and a handful of vendors are all he's interested in, so that the event can remain agriculturally focused.

Gwendolyn Hall, of Franklin, N.H., travels to several fairs in New England every year to show her alpacas and demonstrate the art of hand-spinning their fleece.

As she sat in the shade under a tent on the sunny field, rocking back and forth in front of her spinner, Hall seemed to delight in the opportunity to talk with each and every passerby.

“This is my favorite fair,” she said. “There's no drag racing so you can actually hear people talk, and it's not so crowded that you can’t talk to people.

“It's a really nice set-up,” she added. “Very country, very quiet. The fair staff really wants you here, and it's not commercialized at all. It's all about family and learning about animals and education.”

Other exhibitors, such as chainsaw carver Barre Pinske, of Chester, Vt., were less enthusiastic. “I'm not making any money,” he grumbled. “But this is romantic Vermont, a little field in the middle of nowhere. It's a very local thing.”

Whether you're drawn to the sight of an obscenely large pumpkin adorned with a blue ribbon or the image of a ferris wheel against a blue summer sky -- or if you're simply looking for a place to keep your kids amused -- it seems like everybody goes to the fair.