Mainebiz

W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 83 Fact Book / Doing Business in Maine P H OTO E S S AY CHILD'S PLAY: Fairs cultivate future cultivators, with events such as chicken beauty pageants and baking contests, along with instructional activities on how, for example, to grow vegetables and market them. At the Union Fair in Union (above left), a farmer-to-be gazes at poultry, and the poultry gazes back. Close to the Canadian border at the Northern Maine Fair in Presque Isle (above right), a young reader learns about maple syrup in a book from the treehouse library at the "Lil' Lumberjacks" installation — an exhibit that won a nationwide first place medal in 2023 as an innovative educational program. THRILL OF VICTORY: Tests of speed, strength, agility and endurance — of animal and human athletes — are fair traditions. At far left, Mareea Decker takes a victory lap with her sheep Dally after winning the junior sheep trials at the Union Fair. One of the highlights of the Fryeburg Fair is Woodsmen's Field Day, an Olympics for woodchoppers, chainsaw wielders, axe-throwers and more -- 28 events in all. Heaving the log toward the finish line (near left) is Ashley Severy, a regular in woodswomen's competitions who is attracted to the sport because, she says, "it's so rooted in New England." ANCIENT ARTS: It's hard to find a good blacksmith when you need one these days, lending a sense of nostalgia to scenes like the horseshoe-forging demonstration in Presque Isle (near right), a fair with origins in 1851. The least common of Maine's agricultural exhibitions is, ironically, the Common Ground fair, first held in 1977. Not only is pottery-making on the menu (far right), but also yoga, mindfulness, herbalist presentations and environmental and social activism.

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