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HARMONY – The annual Harmony Labor Day Free Fair is like an old friend to Barbara Herrick, 84, of Dover-Foxcroft.
She was in her 20s when the first fair was organized and she’ll be on hand this year when the fair celebrates its 60th anniversary Friday, Aug. 31, through Monday, Sept. 3.
“I wouldn’t miss it; I get to meet all of my old friends,” Herrick said Tuesday. She figures she has only missed two of the fairs in her lifetime.
The fair was first conceived as a way to raise funds for a new gymnasium, according to Herrick, who recalled playing basketball in a rather decrepit building at the time.
Herrick said every resident back then was called upon to furnish home-baked goods and to volunteer their help.
When the funds were raised in three years, the organizers, known as the Harmony Patriarchs Club, decided to continue the annual event and raise funds for other improvements in the small community.
Just as it was when it first started in 1948, admission to the fair and parking is free and residents still volunteer their time and talents.
Bracelets for the rides are $10 on Friday, and $15 per day on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. The fair will open at 3 p.m. Friday.
Several new events have been added to this year’s fair including hay sculpture called “What the ‘Hay’ Contest,” a “Board Foot Estimation Contest,” a cribbage tournament, a baseball tournament and a children’s area.
Company B, 20th Maine, and The Ancient Ones of Maine, two living history groups that show how life used to be, will have encampments on the fairgrounds.
There will be exhibits and demonstrations including the animal barn, oxen teams, and the operation of old farm machinery.
In addition, there will be a demolition derby, live entertainment, public meals, a pig scramble, and a woodsman competition.
The Department of Agriculture will sponsor a two-crusted apple pie contest. The top three finalists will be invited to compete in the state contest held during the Agricultural Trades Show in Augusta.
For Herrick, the entertainment will start Sunday when she attends her 67th class reunion. She’ll follow that on Monday with the 9:30 a.m. parade.
“The parade always draws a crowd,” Herrick said.
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