DURHAM, Conn. — The annual Durham Fair is set to return this week for its 105th year, shaping up to be the biggest yet.
Ahead of the fair, which runs Thursday through Sunday, the biggest pumpkin on record was weighed in at 2,181 pounds Tuesday night.
Chelsea Cleveland, the assistant superintendent of the Giant Pumpkin at the fair, said they had growers from all over the East Coast enter their submissions.
“We have growers here from upstate New York, lower New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, all over the East Coast,” Cleveland said.
The fair offers a variety of attractions, from the Giant Pumpkin weigh-in to the youth exhibition.
There were over 2,000 entries this year in the Youth Department. Kathy Ness, the department's superintendent, said the smiles on children’s faces year after year is the reason she’s been a part of the youth committee for more than 30 years.
“Seeing the kids smile, seeing the expression on their faces when they come in to drop off their items, they're so proud of what they do. They really are. That makes my job a lot easier and they should be. I mean, it's gorgeous. Yeah, every year they're amazing. It's just amazing. I look forward to every year because it's so different every year,” Ness said.
Behind the scenes, the fair is a year-long project. Exhibits, like the ones on display in the Youth Department, are the culmination of months of dedication.
“We take the crafts in the Saturday before the fair, the next day it's judged. Once it's judged, then you start displaying and putting the ribbons up. So it takes, I would say maybe 20 hours per committee member, to do all of this and we put a lot of love into it. You know, when we're displaying and putting things out,” Ness said.
Jeff Grenier, chairman of the Coginchaug Benchwarmers' fair booth, said their organization has been around for 56 years and that they have had a booth at the fair for 54.
“We raise money to support the high school sports here in Durham-Middlefield for Coginchaug Regional High School, and we've donated over $3.5 million worth of equipment in summer camps and all kinds of different things that we've done over the years, scoreboards," Grenier said.
The fair has more than 10,000 exhibits with something for everyone to enjoy.
On Friday at 5:30 p.m., fairgoers will see a pumpkin weighing over 1,000 pounds dropped onto a minivan.
FOX61 will have live coverage from the fair, beginning on Thursday at 5 p.m. and then again on Friday at 6 a.m.
Annette Montgomery is a Multi-Skilled Journalist and anchor at FOX61 News. She can be reached at [email protected].
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