NEW PORTLAND — The 77th annaul Agricultural Fair will be held Sept. 18-20, along with the 14th annual Maine Crafts Festival at the fairgrounds on Route 146.

This year's event will be dedicated to longtime fair manager Eldon McLean for his dedication and leadership. It's sponsored by the New Portland Lions Club, which has about 29 members.

The fair has grown to include everything from animal and ATV pulls, to crafts and even an eel race. McLean acknowledges there are fewer sponsors now, largely due to the loss of mills and busineses, and perhaps the economy. But he plans to keep planning, promoting and producing the three-day exhibition.

About half the Lions Club members meet weekly to make improvements to their fairgrounds. They have added a craft building for the festival, a camping area, upgraded electrical system, truck pulling area and space for a demolition derby.They have also set up a mobile home for an office, covered the midway with crushed stone and created dumping stations.

This year, they are creating an obstacle course for horse twitching. They have also put down a new pulling arena and a new track, McLean said.

Along with the normal fair offerings such as music, amusement rides and exhibition halls, the club added an eel race a few years ago that draws a large crowd. It can be pretty amusing as children pick up an eel in one tub, then race across a watered-down tarp to place the eel in another tub, he said. Girls pick up the slippery snake-like creatures  just as quick as boys.

Profits from the fair benefit the community, McLean said. The club provides roughly 400 fruit baskets for the elderly and needy at Christmas, and pays for glasses and sometimes hearing aids for those in need. Funds are also given for scholarships in Kingfield and North Anson schools, and the club performs eye and ear screenings in area schools, he said.

abryant@sunjournal.com