FRYEBURG — With five minutes to go before the official start of the judging Thursday afternoon, Barbara Lawrence, decked out in her white sweater with red apples knitted into the design, walked slowly past 20 homemade pies.

Like many others, she had been at the Fryeburg Fair since last Thursday when people arrived to set up their exhibits in the Agricultural Exhibition Center.

She made sure two pieces had been cut out from each pie and placed on separate paper plates, each with a plastic fork. Each pie had a number. Each pie had the baker’s handwritten or typed recipe beside it on a white file card.

At exactly 1 p.m., the two judges entered the booth. A group of about 35 people had gathered — no doubt some of the pie bakers — to see who the winner would be. Rules for the contest are very specific, and one baker had already violated a rule.

“This one’s still hot,” event organizer Joline Gushee said.

Pies are supposed to be cool when they’re judged. In fact, three pies were disqualified for that reason, bringing the number down to 17.

Other rules: two crusts; traditional apple pie (don’t try getting fancy with nuts or raisins); must be baked in a disposable aluminum pie pan; both the pies and the recipes become the property of the Fryeburg Fair; only one entry per person; open only to Maine and New Hampshire residents; and you can’t submit a recipe if you’ve already submitted it in past years.

The judges are retired police officer Leon Shackley of Conway, N.H., and Conway Recreation Director John Eastman.

Talk about poker faces: These two have pie-judging down to an art.

Each takes a bite. Slowly chews. They exhibit no facial expression whatsoever, no eye contact with the crowd. Deliberately, each takes a swig of water, then moves over to the next pie and repeats the procedure.

So, that’s 17; yes, 17 apple pies. So how do they come up with the winner? Clipboards in hand, they rate each on texture, flavor of filling, ease of preparation, crust, and overall appearance.

Then Gushee and her two judges disappear into a small office, while the crowd waits nervously for the results.

“The apple pie-baking contest is the epitome of pie-baking contests,” said Ann-Michelle Ames, superintendent of the exhibit hall. It was her 30th year working with others at the fair, which is in its 161st year.

She has a loyal following of volunteers and a few paid staffers to help her.

“I have about 30 people who help set up, about 10 who work in the hall during the fair, and another 30 who help take down the exhibits,” Ames said.

Her interest in the fair didn’t come from being raised on a farm. She helped her aunt do some bookkeeping one year, and steadily got more involved.

She knows that some of the local people get aggravated every fall with the fair traffic, but, she said, what they may not know is how much the fair gives back to the local communities.

As a trustee for the West Oxford Agricultural Society, the organization that sponsors the fair, she has an inside look at where the money goes.

“Every year, we give the town of Fryeburg between $90,000 and $100,000 in lieu of taxes,” she said. They also give money to Fryeburg Academy.

And, when other fair organizations have needed help, Fryeburg Fair officials have pitched in by offering money or volunteers.

“We try to help people in the community when they need it,” Ames said.

The apple pie contest itself generates money for activities at area nursing homes. After the judging, pieces of the pies, except for the winning ones, sell for $3 each. The five winning pies are auctioned off. Last year, the sale of those pies generated $600 — one pie alone went for $300.

Education is another basic purpose of the fair. As if on cue, a young man stuck his head into her office, asking, “Is there anyone here who can answer a question for me on canning?”

After sending him off in the right direction, she noted there has been a significant increase this year among young people in growing and canning vegetables.

“A lot of kids entered their produce this year,” she said. “We had an increase of about 10 percent. We’re happy to see that. We want our youth involved. If we don’t have them, we don’t have a future.”

And this year’s winning pie entries? The results are in:

* Louise Schuknect of Conway, N.H., won “best overall;”

* Delaney Whitley of Intervale, N.H., won “best crust;”

* Diane Perry of Rockland won “best filling;”

* Naomi Comeau, 15, of Lovell, won in the junior (18 or under) category; and

* Gail Wood of Raymond won “best specialty.”

The fair continues through Sunday.

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