LIVERMORE – Morning rain gave way to summer heat and unexpected blue skies on Saturday at the Washburn-Norlands Harvest Days Fall Festival. The unseasonable warmth, which soared into the 70s, brought families out in full force to the laid-back, living-history event.

“We could not have asked for a better day. We’ve had a very good turnout,” volunteer Donnie Foster of Livermore said at noon, two hours into the six-hour festival.

More than 100 people of all ages had streamed in by then, checking out several all-day exhibits, like a working apple-cider machine, a farmers’ oxen competition and a living history encampment of The Ancient Ones, a Revolutionary War-era reenactment group.

The ever popular hay wagon rides, however, were canceled by heavy rain through the night and into the morning.

“Things are going really well, but for the fall festival, this (warmth) is unheard of. This isn’t October weather,” Foster said.

“This is beautiful and extremely unusual, but delightful, because it brought people out,” volunteer coordinator Nancey Drinkwine of Hartford said of the temperatures. “The people are enjoying themselves. We’re seeing a lot of kids here today and our activities are well attended.”

Activities included a scavenger hunt, storytelling, pumpkin-painting, candy-apple making, apple bobbing, leaf pressing, children’s games, scarecrow making, jack-o-lantern carving and doughnut-eating contests, and tours of the living history center and museum. A scheduled apple pie bake off had failed to materialize by noon, due to a lack of entries.

In addition to the usual farm animals being displayed in their stalls, several teams of oxen tested their mettle in weight-pulling competitions by farmers.

“We’re having a good time,” Gerry Judkins of Farmington said of himself and his 3-year-old son, Sammy. “We like to watch the pulls, but we really came to check out the (museum) rooms.”

Pomeroy brothers Jordan, 7, and Ben, 9, came with dad, Troy Pomeroy, all of Livermore Falls, to see the animals, mostly, and blacksmithing demonstrations. The trio interacted with Dale Boothby of Livermore Falls, who used a century-old cider press to grind and press apples donated by Ricker Hill Orchards of Turner.

Saturday’s visit was more of a reminiscing trip for the elder Pomeroy, who said he’d previously enjoyed Norlands through school back when he was youngster. School programs at Norlands are something that Drinkwine hopes to revive by next spring through fundraisers like Saturday’s festival and other heritage events.

“It’s always fun to come back to familiar ground. It brings back memories,” he said, watching Jordan and Ben learn how apple cider was made by hand in the past.

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