PARKER VILLAGE — For 70 years, the Middlesex County 4-H Fair has brought Westford and surrounding communities together, featuring livestock shows, horse competitions, local artisan products and homemade arts and crafts.
Since 1956, the fair has taken place on 55 South Chelmsford Road in Westford.
This year’s event featured a ceremony honoring its 70th anniversary and a parade showcasing the many groups involved.
The fair featured a 1776 theme, to honor the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution.
To officially start the fair, 4-H leaders held their annual opening ceremony, which was followed by a parade.
Suzanne Sheehy, who has been on the fair’s Board of Directors for 10 years, described what goes into putting it together each year.
“Even though our fair happens once a year and for only three days, it’s an all-year process where the Board of Directors meet monthly, sometimes bimonthly,” Sheehy said. “Planning starts and we start booking our talent in January or earlier and there’s a lot of wrap-up to do after the fair because the kids who exhibit here actually win awards and also earn premium money for exhibiting with their animals and their artwork and things like that. So there’s a lot of activity on our end that goes all the way through the end of the year and then it starts all over again.”
One of the primary attractions of the fair are its livestock and equestrian competitions.
Animals from farms across Westford, Chelmsford, Littleton, Acton and other neighboring communities come out to the fair for attendees to see them take part in different contests. These included cattle, sheep and goat shows, as well as fitting and showmanship events that tested participants’ ability to properly handle and present their animals.
Additionally, equestrian competitions are held, including a horse show taking place throughout the fair and young riders demonstrating their riding and horsemanship skills.
Julia Ficociello, a junior fair director, has been showing her animals at the fair for 12 years. She described what her experience is like.
“So I originally started with showing horses,” Ficociello said. “My sister showed before me and after that I had a pet rabbit, so I joined a rabbit club. Then just recently, one of the members of my club offered me the opportunity to show one of their dairy cows so now that’s my favorite thing.”
Like Sheehy, Ficociello said lots of work goes into preparing for the fair each year, including weekly worknights every Monday in the summer where junior directors clean up the fairgrounds, discuss what attractions and events were successful in previous fairs and plan out what is in store for each upcoming fair.
She said growing up working at the fair gave her opportunities to work with animals she would have never had otherwise and also provided her with a great sense of community.
“The 4 H’s (in 4-H Fair) are head, hands, heart and health,” Ficociello said. “Our pledge is improving your head to greater thinking, your hands to larger service — like helping people, helping the community — and bettering your heart and your health. I love seeing how (4-H) is a real community. Even the people that come by, I recognize from past years. They ask about the animals. I love sharing the projects that I’ve worked on through the whole year, because it takes a lot to train these cows. I love being able to show that and earn a ribbon for it. I love getting to interact with the public and sharing what I’ve worked on.”
In addition to the animal shows and competitions, local farmstands and vendors use the fair as an opportunity to showcase and sell their products.
Michelle Bobkov, owner of Sweet Hives Homestead in Dunstable, said her children have been attending the fair for 10 years. But this year, she decided to go herself and begin selling her family’s homemade honey and honey-based products there.
“So this is my first time as a vendor and also a mom participant here, cheering on my children,” Bobkov said. “My husband and I both are backyard beekeepers and this is kind of like our hobby/business that we have and we really enjoy it. We have hives and we sell honey and handmade natural honey-based products and gift sets, all made by us. We make lip balms and I have a lotion stick as well that you can use as a moisturizer. We also have great gift sets for Christmas, birthdays, whatever, such as candles, balms and honey by itself.”
This year’s 4-H fair ran from 8 a.m. on Friday, August 18 until 4 p.m. on Sunday, August 30.
Bringing in thousands of attendees, the fair is one of the largest annual events held in Westford.
