In E.B. White's Charlotte's Web, the fair is where everything is resolved: Wilbur the pig is prized instead of becoming a side dish to eggs. On the other hand, of course?no offense to Wilbur?sausage ranks high on my list of fair food. But whether you prefer to sample the animals or watch them nurse little Wilburs, the Cumberland County Fair is the place to be.
Having grown up in a town with "horse crossing" signs under every speed limit posting, it's no surprise that the annual fair qualifies as exciting. Entering my second year of college, I'll admit to a nostalgic thrill at going home to Cumberland to see this year's fair take shape.
For eleven months of the year the most action the fairgrounds sees is kids practicing their driving on the deserted midway. When the fair kicks off its 133rd year this Sunday, September 26, 50,000 people will attend, according to Cumberland Lions Club Treasurer Gerry Provost. Cumberland's first week of Fall will be noisy with racing, rides, and crowds.
The livestock are a large part of the fair. One of the more enduring memories of my childhood is my fourth-grade teacher delaying the buses so that our entire class of ten-year-olds could stand, open-mouthed, and witness the miracle of life: watching a cow giving birth. The baby calf came into the world to a rather stunned, grossed-out audience. It was all anyone could talk about on the ride back to school.
In case you were thinking of showing your prize pig in the fair: rule number five in the informational brochure clearly states, "Swine must be reasonably clean before arriving, not covered with mud and dry manure." And be forewarned before entering your rabbit, as the Cumberland County Rabbit Breeders Association of Maine "will not be responsible for loss by fire or otherwise."
It's difficult to imagine that someone will bring a mud-covered pig to try and win a prize, or that the fair will go up in flames, but one would suppose the Cumberland Farmers Club has to cover all its bases.
If waiting twenty minutes in line for a chance to vomit on the Tilt-a-Whirl doesn't sound like your cup of tea, you can always seek refuge in the 4-H Exhibition Hall. 4-H members submit entries in categories ranging from dried food to basketmaking to wool fleece. Contests will also take place throughout the week.
It's a fitting kick-off to the best season in Maine, for while the standard circus of rides can draw a crowd, the seventeenth annual Maine State Giant Pumpkin and Squash Weigh-in Contest and the Maine Two Crust Apple Pie Baking Contest remind us of the agricultural richness of this state.
Eight dollars for admission will get you everything from baby goats to radio controlled car racing. You can fatten up for winter on cotton candy, fried clams, candied apples or my personal favorite, fried dough. Drive a half hour south this weekend and experience Cumberland's big event. If you're really lucky you may get to see a goat being born.