OXFORD — Several hundred students from Oxford County schools were treated to an array of farm animals during Education Day at the Oxford Fair on Wednesday.

The No. 1 favorite again this year: the piglets.

“They’re so cute,” cried Bree Heikkinen of Paris, leaning into the fence to see a dozen or so baby pigs sleeping and eating.

Education Day is an annual event at the fair, sponsored this year by the Oxford County Soil and Water Conservation District.

The day provides activities and demonstrations, such as yarn-spinning, mineral-mining, oxen-yoking and cider-making and plenty of animals to pet and see. For educators, the fair provides a wide-open classroom.

Teachers say they will incorporate the demonstrations and activities students see into their science, writing and other studies when they return to the classroom.

Some students, such as Emily Billings of Milton Plantation and Kyle Brown of Paris, show their farm animals. Brown said his sheep will be put on the market Friday after he spends the week demonstrating shearing techniques to other students.

“It keeps him cooler,” Brown said of the clipping.

Billings, who has been showing her sheep for the past few years and spends the entire week at the fair until market day on Friday, said she brings her homework with her and does it in her off hours.

For other students, most of them first-graders, the fair gave them the opportunity to see farm animals up close for the first time.

Jake Cash of Poland, who has been showing his steers at agricultural fairs for the past 45 years, said the No. 1 question students ask is what is that thing around the steers’ head. The yoke is a harness worn by two draft animals carrying loads.

The fair will continue through Saturday.

ldixon@sunjournal.com

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