The Fair Comes to Farmington (Sort of)
by Madison Archer Contributing Writer
On September 11th through the 13th and the 18th through the 21st, the Farmington Fair hosted King and Queen Fries and Mr. and Mrs. Sausage from 11 a.m. – 7 p.m. Masks and social distancing were also required.
Rupert Pratt, the Chairman Board of Directors for the Franklin County Agricultural Society (FCAS), said, “Mr. and Mrs. Sausage is going to be doing doughboys,” a sweet concoction of deep fried dough topped with powdered sugar
Neal Yeaton, the Secretary of FCAS, said that “people have been cooped up, I think next year there will be a lot more interest in the fair and in the racing and everything going on.”
The fair attracts a lot of people for the racing alone so not being able to have that income is going to affect the horse owners and caretakers.
4-H is a club for kids to learn by doing real-life and hands-on activities dealing with agriculture. Yeaton hopes to “keep the 4-H kids involved enough so they’ll come back with the exhibition hall and with their animals” since showing animals is a big part of the Farmington Fair as well.
Glenda Barker, a Director in FCAS said “This is Farmington Fair weather,” as she walked into the exhibition hall for the FCAS meeting.
“The RSU-9 schools would usually get out early on Wednesday of the fair week, a beloved tradition to look forward to. This year there is no fair and Wednesday is the school’s day to clean,” Yeaton said.
Dana Levasseur, owner of Mr. and Mrs. Sausage is usually really busy during the week of the Farmington Fair.
This year though, the closure of fairs statewide has made a “huge economic impact for everybody, food vendors, propane vendors, it’s a huge trickle down effect,” said Lavassuer.
Levasseur was excited to announce that they had added fried oreos and fried dough to their menu for the weekend of the 18th.
Being able to show the town that the fair organizers are still being active and still have events is important to Barker. Even with COVID-19 guidelines, FCAS wants to be able to help the community feel connected and this is one way they can help. Since the future is uncertain the group just remains hopeful that the 2021 fair will not be cancelled like fairs in the Midwest have started doing.
While discussing the vendor’s success, Barker said “I think it was good that we could organize this, because it just shows the town that we did something.” Giving the locals something that they can hopefully enjoy was major to the FCAS.
Hopefully the recent good weather will lift up the spirits of those disappointed by the lack of rides and events at the fair this year.
Although this year will not be as exciting for the locals, 4-H students or vendors, there may be some semblance of normalcy thanks to food vendors like MR and MRS. Sausage and King and Queen fries.