Rick Simoneau, center, teaches children Monday about apples and apple pressing during Agriculture Day at the Farmington Fair. Teachers, students and chaperones walk through livestock barns, participate in educational activities and view exhibitions as part of the agricultural focus. Donna M. Perry/Sun Journal
FARMINGTON — Agriculture Day is one of Neal Yeaton’s favorites at the weeklong Farmington Fair.
On Monday, students, teachers and their chaperones learned about apple and apple pressing, walked through the livestock barns, participated in educational activities and took in exhibitions.
Neal Yeaton of Farmington, secretary of the Franklin County Agricultural Society, talks Monday about opening day at the Farmington Fair. Donna M. Perry/Sun Journal
“Kids got to know where their food comes from and how it gets to them and the store,” the secretary of the Franklin County Agricultural Society said Monday. “I have always liked Ag Day because it is a good education process for the kids. The teachers do a good job. They give the kids projects and things they have to find and comment about it.”
Besides the emphasis on agriculture during the second day of the seven-day exposition, fairgoers could watch Heather Meng of New Sharon tatting, which is making fine lace by looping and knotting thread, in the Agricultural Museum. She said she enjoys her craft during fairs and as a hobby.
The museum displays tools, old sleighs and other turn-of-the-century equipment and machines, along with clothing and furniture from that period.
One event postponed from Monday to Wednesday due to the weather was Drag Your Neighbor, a motor vehicle racing competition, according to a post on the Farmington Fair Facebook page.
Yeaton, of Farmington, said opening day Sunday went well.
“The weather was beautiful, everyone seemed to be happy and there was a good crowd,” he said. “We had the pie-eating contest.” Of the 20 entrants, 18 were ages 5 to 11 and two were adults.
The weather also benefited the parimutuel racing, which had a good number of horses, he said.
Heather Meng of New Sharon does tatting — making fine lace by looping and knotting thread — on Monday at the Agriculture Museum at the Farmington Fair. She says she enjoys doing the craft at fairs and as a hobby. Donna M. Perry/Sun Journal
Miss Farmington Fair Pageant went very well, due in part to a group of people who stepped up because the person who usually organizers couldn’t, Yeaton said. “They did a very good job,” he said.
Luke Foster, 11, of Wilton looks at photographs Monday at the Exhibition Hall at the Farmington Fair. The fair runs through Saturday, with Senior Citizen Days on Tuesday and Thursday and a demolition derby Saturday. Donna M. Perry/Sun Journal
Other events Sunday that also went well included barrel racing and oxen pulling.
“It has been a good start to the fair so far,” Yeaton said. “It always helps when the weather is good.”
Irene Foss of North Chesterville meets Annika Foster, 3, of Wilton on Monday at the Farmington Fair. Foss was working in the art area when she met her new friend. Donna M. Perry/Sun Journal
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