Maine Agricultural Fair

Look around you at the Fryeburg Fair in Maine and you'll find folks interested in the products that come from agriculture in the Pine Tree State. Probably the biggest day at the fair is called 'Woodsman's Field Day".

Don Quigly is a professor of forestry at the University of New Hampshire, "Well it's been a hobby of mine for 30 years. The core of forestry here in the Northeastern United States is the harvesting in the wood industries. If you go back 150 years forestry was logging and logging was forestry. 90 percent of Maine is still covered with forest. It's the number one most forested state in all the United States - New Hampshire is number two. 350 years of harvesting timber and so this may be in some ways the model for the measure of sustainability for natural resources in the world."

Don points to activities at the fair, "If you look around you'll see a cross section of everything a logger would have been doing in the woods a 100 years ago: felling trees, cutting them into lengths, sawing with cross cut saws, and sawing with chain saws, the more modern addition to the event. And so this really is what we like to call this the rodeo of the forest. It comes from an era when these skills were highly prized really revered in rural communities, and so that's how it came along."

Pointing to a wide metal band with jagged teeth and pulls at both ends, Don says, "This is a two person cross cut saw. These things came into the woods about the time of the civil war and they revolutionized logging in there day. This one has been modified for competition, but it's a great old tradition, and fun to do!"

The annual fair draws hundreds of thousands of people....a good portion of the population of Maine. In addition to kids, cows, tractors and timber, you'll find dogs here. But these are working dogs. If you like to follow those that "follow the flock", herding events make for a diverting day. You'll see how the dogs work the sheep through obstacles and herd them into the final pen. Dogs that do it fastest are recognized for their efforts...along with their owners, of course.

But back to the timber events and you'll find contestant Mike Sullivan trimming a log with a large large axe. Mike is a lumberjack from May to October. The idea is to notch your way up an upright log and trim at the top. Mike says, "This race is won in these two holes. These two holes will win that race. I messed this up, took way to many hits and it cost me the race."

Look around and you'll also find lumber "jills" as well as lumber "jacks". Irene Harvey has set world records in her classes...something that thrills her daughter Shannon, "I think it's great!"

So here at the Fryeburg fair, whether it's cutting sheep or cutting timber. If you want to have a look at what life is like for those who believe that work is play. This is the place to be.