TOPSHAM — A fair typically provides a variety of activities, sights, scents, sounds, and stories.

The 159th annual Topsham Fair, which runs through Sunday, is no different.

Tuesday was Amy Johnson’s first time at the Topsham event. The Kennebunkport woman brought her 6-year-old son Calvin primarily to see the animals, she said, as he fed treats to two sheep.

They were there for the rides, too, of course.

“It’s a nice summer day,” she said.

Not far away, a white-haired couple made their way across the fairgrounds. Tuesday happened to be Senior Day at the fair.

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“That’s why we’re here,” Roland Ray of Greene said as he and his wife, Lorraine, chuckled.

They said they’ve been attending the fair for four or five years.

“It’s something to look at,” Ray said, adding that “everything” is his favorite part of the fair, particularly the antique tractors.

Inside the Exhibition Hall, Tish Cloutier was preparing to judge that afternoon’s baking contests, which included berry muffins and biscuits.

“I enjoy it,” said the Lisbon Falls woman, a chef who once worked at the Highlands senior living community in Topsham. “I’m retired, and I just come in because you see a lot of people you don’t see for a long time.”

The hall was decorated with a variety of arts and crafts that reflected all colors of the rainbow and all types of talent.

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“I’ve been volunteering at the fair for probably … eight years,” Cloutier said. “Checking people in with their exhibits, and then I’m in here to answer questions, and slap people’s hands if they touch the quilts.”

She’s a particular fan of the baked bean contest, she said, “but I think it’s judging the kids’ cookies that gives me the most pleasure. … Pretty much they all get a ribbon.”

The fair takes place at the Topsham Fairgrounds, off the Route 196 Coastal Connector. Admission is $10 Friday and Sunday, and $12 on Saturday, although children under 3 feet tall will be allowed in for free that day. Admission includes rides. Children of military families get in for half price on Sunday.

Remaining fair events include harness racing, which will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, a demolition derby at 7 p.m. that day, and a freestyle motocross jumping show with the RaveX Outer Limits Tour on 6:30 p.m. Sunday.

What’s being billed as a “redneck truck pull” will take place at 6:30 p.m. Friday, and the Sunrise Stampede 5k event will be held at 8 a.m. Saturday, followed by a fun run for children.

Log onto topshamfair.net for a complete schedule of events.

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Alex Lear can be reached at 781-3661 ext. 113 or alear@theforecaster.net. Follow him on Twitter: @learics.

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Calvin Johnson, 6, of Kennebunkport feeds sheep at the Topsham Fair on Tuesday.

Ray and Doris Bussiere, who live in Myrtle Beach, S.C. but summer in Lewiston, enjoy a bite to eat Tuesday at the Topsham Fair. They celebrate their 53rd wedding anniversary next week.

John Sczymecki of Hideaway Farm in Topsham and his team of horses give Topsham fairgoers a ride Tuesday.


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