By Aimee Caruso - Aug 29, 2016
Crowds gather on a shaded hill to observe a horse pulling competition on the opening day of the Cornish Fair on Friday, Aug. 19, 2016, in Cornish, N.H. (Valley News - Mac Snyder) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com.
Langdon, N.H., resident Jacob Ward, 13, stands for a portrait with a balloon mask he had purchased on the opening day of the Cornish Fair on Friday, Aug. 19, 2016, in Cornish, N.H. (Valley News - Mac Snyder) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com.
Cornish resident Clara Posner, center, and Claremont resident Taelor MacDonald, right, speak with Croydon resident Belinda Durgen about their performance in the interview portion of the Cornish Fair Pageant on Friday, Aug. 19, 2016, in Cornish, N.H. Posner was competing in her second Cornish Fair Pageant, and MacDonald was competing in her third. Durgin’s daughter was also competing. (Valley News - Mac Snyder) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com.
Top of The World Dairy 4H’s Josie Grace Cross, 10, brushes the hair of Caleb Palazzo, 13, of Lebanon, N.H., with a brush used to groom cattle during some down time on the opening day of the Cornish Fair on Friday, Aug. 19, 2016, in Cornish, N.H. (Valley News - Mac Snyder) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com.
To attract fairgoers to his skeeball booth, carnival worker Douglas Conant, of Fitchburg, Mass., demonstrates his juggling skills during the Cornish Fair’s opening day on Friday, Aug. 19, 2016, in Cornish, N.H. (Valley News - Mac Snyder) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com.
Kevin Jennings, of Allenstown, N.H., stands and watches over his uncle’s sow and five-day-old piglets during the Cornish Fair’s opening day on Friday, Aug. 19, 2016, in Cornish, N.H. (Valley News - Mac Snyder) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com.
South Strafford residents Amy Reynolds, Maddox Castro, Ryker Castro, and Nick Castro ride a pirate ship on the opening day of the Cornish Fair on Aug. 19, 2016, in Cornish, N.H. As the ride was reaching its zenith, Maddox Castro shouted, “Does this thing go upside down?” (Valley News - Mac Snyder) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com.
Mother Nature smiled on this year’s Cornish Fair.
The weather “can make us or really hurt us,” said Wayne Gray, the fair association’s president. But this year, it was “excellent,” with just a little rain on the evening of Aug. 21, right at the close of the three-day event.
Sunshine is good news, not only for the 67-year-old agricultural fair, but also for area nonprofits that benefit from selling food and services at the event, which supports college scholarships for students who live in Cornish. In addition to nonprofits, the fair also depends on volunteers: 300 people pitch in daily. Gray said he’s thankful for all of the volunteers, vendors and people who come to the fair.
“Everyone we’ve got is just so good to work with. It makes it enjoyable to do this,” he said. “They are all doing the job they need to do, which makes it so much easier on us as a fair association.”
The fair boasted a full schedule, with 4-H competitions; oxen, pony and horse pulls; and children’s activities. Visitors also could ride in a helicopter, listen to live music, and check out the tractor displays and artwork. New this year were a booth from McNamara Dairy and Mac’s Maple, featuring maple products such as ice cream and kettle corn, and an owl show, Gray said. But one vital element hasn’t changed.
“It’s like a family reunion,” he said, where people enjoy catching up “with all kinds of people they don’t see other times of the year.”
— Aimee Caruso
