GREENFIELD — Crowds with visitors from across the county returned to the Franklin County Fair for familiar favorites and new surprises this year.
The fair’s 176th year rolled into action with the “Kick Off Parade” on Thursday night. Horses galloped into the grounds on Friday before the Truck Pull, and the Flippenout Trampoline Show marked Friday’s finale.
“It’s just things that you never get to see all year,” Greenfield resident Sandy Thomas said. At 73, the self-proclaimed “fair brat” said she has attended her local fair for 48 consecutive years. “It’s a melting pot of Franklin County,” she said.
People watch as the YoYo ride at the Franklin County Fair swings riders around in circles. STAFF PHOTO/PAUL FRANZ 
The rides are a blur in this long exposure at the Franklin County Fair on Thursday evening. STAFF PHOTO/PAUL FRANZ 
Quilts, crafts, art and food on display in the Roundhouse at the Franklin County Fair on Thursday evening. STAFF PHOTO/PAUL FRANZ 
Clarkdale Fruit Farm’s award winning fruit display in the Roundhouse at the Franklin County Fair on Thursday evening. STAFF PHOTO/PAUL FRANZ 
Children delight in the bubbles from Pirate Man Dan’s bubble ship the Franklin County Fair on Thursday evening. STAFF PHOTO/PAUL FRANZ 
Two of the Axe Women Loggers of Maine race each other to chop a log in half during their show at the Franklin County Fair on Thursday evening. STAFF PHOTO/PAUL FRANZ 
One of the Axe Women Loggers of Maine throws a double bladed axe at a target during their show at the Franklin County Fair on Thursday evening. STAFF PHOTO/PAUL FRANZ 
John Ward and Claire Chang waited in line to get some Hagers Farm Store fried dough at the Franklin County Fair on Thursday evening. STAFF PHOTO/PAUL FRANZ 
Local band Well Suited plays at the Franklin County Fair on Thursday evening. STAFF PHOTO/PAUL FRANZ
The fun continued on Saturday with highlights like the Kids’ Power Wheel Demo, Stoney Roberts’ Demolition Derby and Fire Spinning by Sam Staples. The Emergency Services Parade started the fair’s final day on Sunday.
Little Diggers Construction, a construction site-themed play area with a bulldozer swing set and woodcutting station for kids joined the fair for the first time this year. A carpenter himself, owner Russ Mailloux of Methuen started the company to encourage kids to “work with their hands” and plant the seeds for future careers. “We’re trying to inspire the young generation,” Mailloux said.
Kids also raced against a computer in Rock and Roll Racing, a six-track racing simulator. This activity took the place of racing pigs, a fair tradition not available for the first time in over 30 years.
Between acts, crafts and rides, attendees munched on dishes like maple cream fried dough and burgers from Marshall’s Country Store, a first-time vendor which recently purchased the longstanding Leyden United Methodist Church booth. According to co-owner Amber Snow, their booth sold 200 burgers on Thursday.
Before rushing back to the kitchen, Amber Snow said her first time at the fair allowed her to connect with people beyond the store’s Bernardston bubble.
“Here, you get to feed people, you get to fill their bellies and make them happy,” Snow said. “It’s a really good feeling.”
