CUMMINGTON — The 148th annual Cummington Fair drew crowds of people from throughout the region and beyond who were drawn to its mix of food, animals and entertainment in what for many is a final rite of summer.
“We came 100 miles to go to this fair,” Art Winters of Holliston said Saturday. “We found out about the fair because we used to own property in Cummington.”
Art and his wife Judy Winters said the animals and the 4-H groups are a big draw for them.
“The fair is now near and dear to our hearts,” said Judy Winters as she dug into a stuffed baked potato covered with cheese.
The four-day fair continues Sunday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Albert Judd of Goshen has served on the fair’s board of directors for the last 10 years.
“We couldn’t ask for better day. The weather has been nice, although I suppose it could be a little cooler, but I’m not complaining,” Judd said Saturday. “Attendance has been really good. (Friday) night the demolition derby was packed with people.
Judd said that the derby is a very popular show for the fair. “It is more of a family show. It is exciting to watch and it is not as loud as the truck-pulling events,” he said.
Saturday was “Old Fashioned Day” and featured an antique tractor show, 4-H livestock judging, and oxen and horse events as well as a square dance and a demolition derby in the evening.
“The square dance is very popular,” said Lillian Bisbee, vice president of the Hillside Agricultural Society which has been running the fair since it started.
“We haven’t had any record-breaking days (for attendance) yet but we are doing very well and I think people are having a good time,” Bisbee said Saturday.
Thirty pairs of oxen participated in the oxen parade followed by a challenge where teamsters put oxen through their paces leading them around different obstacles.
Sylvia Snape of Huntington stood in the hot sun Saturday shaded by a large yellow parasol that sported a giant picture of a sunflower.
“This is the first time I have ever seen a oxen teamsters challenge,” Snape said. “They use a light touch and their voice to maneuver them through obstacles. It doesn’t seem easy to do, but one 9-year old made it look easy.”
It was the first time at the fair for Brian Stacy and his wife Linda Stacy of Colrain.
“I am really enjoying it here,” Brian Stacy said Saturday as he watched some of his neighbors participate in the draft oxen pull. “You know, I have been to the Big E in West Springfield once and I won’t go again because it is just too big.”
“This is a small-town fair but it has a little of everything,” Linda Stacy said. “It is also a nice drive through the hills to get here.”
Throughout the day, families stopped in at the “kids corner” where children participated in coloring contests, went on scavenger hunts, played in a pit filled with corn kernels instead of balls, competed in a pedal tractor pull and had the opportunity to milk a cow and go on pony rides.
“We added a lot more agricultural education facts in the scavenger hunt so it is both fun and they learn something,” said April Judd, of Goshen, who ran the “kids corner.” “I also think the parents like having this shaded area where they can rest and let kids out of strollers to run around in a safe area.”
Children and adults alike enjoyed the petting zoo with alpacas, donkeys, bunnies, pot-bellied piglets and Nubian, Boer and Nigerian Dwarf goats.
Greg Rolland of Easthampton and his wife Kate said they try to bring their three daughters Sally, 11, and her 8-year old twin sisters Charlotte and Daisy to the fair every year.
“It is just a super special fair with a great mix of animals, games, magic, clowns and we love the new horse show,” Greg Rolland said.
The show, Horses Horses Horses of Sarasota, Florida, is run by proprietor Lisa Dufresne and features 11 mini- to full-sized equine performers – dancing, and doing stunts with a little comedy thrown in.
Dufresne, who grew up in Worcester, had brought her show to the fair some years ago. On Saturday, the bleachers were packed and fairgoers surrounded the show ring to watch the performance.
“Coming back here has been awesome,” Dufresne said. “We did this show awhile ago and it is great to be back and catch up with people here.”
Alison Gray of Ludlow said that she is not always a fan of animal shows, and particularly does not like to watch oxen being made to pull heavy skids with stone blocks.
“I love the horses though,” Gray said. “They are beautiful and seem to be very well treated and well-cared for.”
A craft barn with vendors selling quilts, jewelry, photographs, books, wooden bowls, spoons, and tie-dye T-shirts was a popular stop.
There, Paula Lynch of Springfield was selling natural soaps from her business Beauty in the Bar.
“Business had been going very well,” she said. “This is my fourth year here I’m really impressed with how they run the fair and how they keep it so clean.”
Large crowds gathered at mid-afternoon Saturday to hear Presley & Taylor, a country music sister duo who recently have opened for Reba McEntire.
Along the midway, amusement rides were spinning and turning and fairgoers played a variety of games.
Food vendors offered everything from giant turkey legs, pizza pierogies, fried dough and ice cream to all-natural organic and GMO-free kettle corn. The fair also offered two seatings for a full roast beef dinner.
“We discovered this fair a few years ago when we were visiting friends in Ahsfield,” said Phillip Wagner, of Pittsfield, who was at the fair with his son Thomas, 9, and daughter Elana, 7. “We try to come every year. This is sort of our last hoorah of the summer before the kids go back to school.”