By Rod Hansen
Staff Writer

Victoria Briggs, 2, and Olivia Briggs, 6, enjoy a moment with their pet lambs at the family home in Deerfield. Lambs will be among the animals in the petting tent at the Hillsborough County Agricultural Fair. The fair is scheduled to take place Sept. 8 to 10 at the 4-H Fairgrounds, Route 13, in New Boston. (Courtesy Photo)

With a range of events including animal exhibits, tractor pulls and livestock auctions, the Hillsborough Country Agricultural Fair wants to keep the “agri” in local culture.

“There’s something for everyone here, which is why it’s been so popular for so many years,” said Jennifer Brown, one of the event’s organizers.

The fair opens Friday, Sept. 8, after a full day of setting up on Thursday. What follows promises to be an event where exhibitors and the public alike can show their flair for agricultural and culinary endeavors.

The fair opens with a tractor pull at noon Friday on the 4-H Fairgrounds, located on Route 13 in New Boston. Other events for opening day include a giant-pumpkin weigh-in at 6 p.m., where some gigantic gourds exceed 1,000 pounds. An evening poultry showing clinic is scheduled for 8 p.m., followed by a fireworks display at 9 p.m.

Main stage entertainment for the day includes Call Her Alaska, Blue Eyed Murder and Hail the Mighty.

The schedule for Saturday, Sept. 10, opens at 9 a.m. with a veterinary science exhibit from Alvirne High School. More than 20 events are scheduled for the day, including 4-H steer, sheep and goat shows, a cowboy shoot-out in the main arena at 1 p.m., square dancing and a lawn tractor pull.

Sunday concludes the 49th annual fair with another range of activities including horseshoe pitching, a dog show, an agility course for dogs, goats and rabbits, and an awards program and raffle drawing.

The fair’s younger atendees may find the strongest attraction to be the petting tent.

The tent, sponsored by Blue Seal Feeds of Milford, will include mini-cows, sheep, goats, mini-donkeys, turkeys, chickens and pigs.

“We invite our customers to bring their animals, and each animal has an individual pen,” said Tiffany Briggs of Deerfield, store manager of Blue Seal. “All the animals are popular, but I’d say the kids like the pigs the best.”

Other activities in the petting tent include a coloring area, prize drawings and a play area.

The fair also presents adults with a chance to show off their agricultural and artistic talents, with several opportunities to enter their wares in various categories of competitions.

Some of the cooking categories include home-baked foods, preserving and canning. Some of the most poplar food items at the fair will likely be bread, muffins cookies, doughnuts, pies and frosted cakes, said Howard Towne, a former member of the fair’s board of directors.

Competitions also include 30 different classes of handiwork, such as knitting, quilting, machine quilting, weaving, cut work and stitching, Towne said.

Art will be represented in 33 classes such as paintings, calligraphy, stained glass, pottery, basketry, leather crafts, children’s toys and furniture, Towne said.

Among adults, the horseshoe-pitching contest always draws a consistent and reliable crowd.

“There’s a group that seems to come every year,” Towne said. “It’s popular for that group.”

Along with the competitions and exhibits, fair organizers say visitors can also expect standard country fair attractions such as rides, concessions, games, prizes and music.

“It’s a full country carnival,” Towne said. “Everyone involved with the fair is concerned with keeping it high-quality.”