NEW PORTLAND – The 72nd annual New Portland Lions Club Fair will be held Sept. 16 to 19, dedicated to the men and women of the armed forces and the agencies charged with defending and protecting the country.
Gates open at 4 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 16, and at 2 p.m. Friday, Sept. 17. The schedule calls for an 8 a.m. gate opening on Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 18 and 19.
On Thursday there will be an ATV pull at 7 p.m., and an appearance by the Humble Farmer, a Maine humorist, also at 7 p.m. at the Central School. There is a $10 admission fee for this show.
A local boys’ truck pull will be held at 7 p.m. Friday, after country and western singer Valerie Burbank’s performance at 6 p.m. The midway rides, beano and craft and exhibition halls are also open.
Oxen pulling and a tractor pull start off Saturday’s events. There will be beano, the opening of the craft building, barrel racing and midway rides. The Western Mountain Trash Can Band will perform at noon. The oxen pulling starts at 10 a.m., and the tractor pull at 11 a.m. A pony pull is scheduled for 2 p.m., and Steve and the Good Ole Boys perform at 2:30 and 4 p.m. An auction will be held at 3 p.m.
Evening entertainment on Saturday includes a truck pull at 7 p.m., Maine humorist Clyde Folsom at 8 p.m., and fireworks at 9:30 p.m.
Sunday, Sept. 19, is Kids’ Day at the fair. A Child Identification Program, CHIPS, is available from 9 to 9:30 a.m. The start of the midway, as well as well pony rides and a pig scramble, will be at 10 a.m. A kids’ pedal tractor pull, under 60 pounds, starts at 11 a.m. and 12-year-old country and western singer Melissa Lynn performs at 11:15 a.m. and again at 1:15 p.m. Sack races and a demolition derby will be held around noon.
Children may search a pile of sawdust for $50 in coins at 12:30 and again at 4:30 p.m. Eel races for ages 8 to 11 are planned for 1:30 p.m.
Horse pulling will be held at 1 p.m., and the Debbie Myers Show, a country and western performance, will be held at 2:30 and 3:45 p.m.
A 10-year-old award-winning country and western act, the Brian Wardell Show, is planned for 3:15 p.m. Sunday, followed by a drawing for a girls’ and boys’ bike drawing at 4 p.m. The winner must be present.
Admission to the fair is $3 per person or $6 per family and includes children under 18. A $12 unlimited ride bracelet will be available from 4 to 8 p.m. Friday and from noon to 3 p.m. Sunday.
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