ICYMI: Blue Hill Fair enjoys sunny skies, high attendance and an enduring legacy
Local firefighter wins women’s skillet toss. Plus, read our play-by-play of sheep dog action.
By Jenna Lookner
Blue skies and sunshine provided the perfect backdrop for the storied Blue Hill Fair, a peninsula mainstay since the late 1800s.
Tammy Chase takes a break with her cow. Photo by Jenna Lookner.
“It’s already busy!” said the smiling gate attendant at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday, August 31. Walking onto the fairgrounds instantly calls childhood memories to the surface: the scent of fried food and the sweetness of cotton candy, the mooing of cattle and the nickers of horses being readied for show all provide an experience unique to an agricultural fair.
“Sausage! Get your diet sausage, just $7.75!” a vendor called from his stall.
Blue Hill Fair Director Erik Fitch said that 2025 attendance was excellent, despite a small dip in visitors on Friday due to some come-and-go storms. In addition, a film crew was on hand shooting a documentary on youth and agriculture, he said.
“It’s definitely really cool to be a part of that,” Fitch said. “I’ve seen lots of smiles on the Midway and lots of full bellies.”
Except for a brief shower, sunny skies drew large crowds to the Blue Hill Fair, from the always popular “Dollar Night” on opening day to its close on Labor Day.
At the 4H building, Gary Moline from the University of Maine Cooperative Extension was sharing a touch tank with families eager to hold sea creatures including anemones, starfish, sand dollars and more. Moline provided a narrative about each organism.
In a quiet moment, father-daughter duo Dwayne and Tammy Chase of Wilton were resting with their pair of Chianina cattle, “Lion” and “Tiger.” An Italian breed, the Chianinia is among the largest of cattle. Tammy checked text messages sitting beside Tiger before reclining on his back as he dozed off.
Dwayne explained that the pair is coming up on two years old and “still learning,” even though he is an experienced handler. Visitors to the Fryeburg Fair likely recognize him as the man who does the education about steer pulls and other cattle-related activities.
“We log scooted on Friday and got first and second,” he said. “These two don’t miss a thing.”
This year’s fair had its steady lineup of attractions: Musical acts, truck pulls, prized vegetables on display, and sheep dog trials.
Steve Lyons from Vermont gives commands to his dog, Bill, during the annual sheep dog trials. Scroll down to our sidebar story for play-by-play action of the sheep dog trials.
A perennial favorite that packs the Grandstand is the Intercontinental Women’s Skillet Toss, divided into two age categories: “Kittens” and “Cougars.” Jeanna Leclerc of Penobscot won the Kittens category, throwing the four-pound cast iron skillet 58 feet three inches. In the Cougar category, Cathy Lloyd of Surry took the prize, with a throw of 52 feet five inches.
Jeanna Leclerc of Penobscot reveals her training secrets that led her to win this year’s Intercontinental Women’s Skillet Toss. Video by John Boit.
On the Midway, fairgoers enjoyed the landmark food staples of the event, many of which have been continuing for decades, with patrons who first came as children and who now waited in line with their children and grandchildren.
At Steve’s French Fries, now in its 52nd year, owner Steve Aucoin was working away with a smile as thick clouds of steam perfumed with fried potatoes wafted from the booth.
“It’s been great, it’s been cool. The weather has been great for French fries,” he said.
Steve Aucoin readies another batch of fries. Photo by Jenna Lookner.
At nearby King and Queen French Fries—a 73-year institution at the fair—father and daughter Arthur and Morgan Linscott were working the booth. Arthur’s grandfather started King and Queen, and the family legacy has continued.
“It hasn’t been too bad at all,” he said of the fair. “Lots and lots of happy people.”
Debbie Spaulding has been selling cotton candy for 50 years at the Blue HIll Fair.
“It has been a busy year,” she said. “I love the down-homeness of this fair, you see a lot of people you know, you don’t see them all year long, but you see them here.”
At Stan’s French Fries, long-time employee Tracy Reece said it had been a good fair. He added that the business’s patriarch and namesake Stan passed away at age 80 in 2024.
“We miss him very, very much,” Reece said, showing off a memorial tattoo he got on his forearm in Stan’s honor and pointing out a thoughtful memorial, including a laminated article and a life-sized cardboard cutout of Stan attached to the rear doors of the booth.
Tracy Reece of Stan’s French Fries. Phot by Jenna Lookner.
In memoriam: Tracy Reece’s tattoo pays homage to the original Stan, who passed away in 2024 at the age of 80. Photo by Jenna Lookner.
As noon approached the Midway swelled with families eager to enjoy the fair.
Debbie Spaulding has been selling cotton candy for 50 years at the Blue Hill Fair. Photo by Jenna Lookner.
Longtime Cushing Amusements employee Lisa Terry was enjoying a lull in the crowd at the game stall she operated. Her job takes her all over the country to fairs and festivals.
“It’s been busy,” Terry said. “This fair is always really fun.”
Lisa Terry travels the country with the Blue Hill Fair’s amusements operator. Photo by Jenna Lookner.
Erik Fitch, general manager of the Blue Hill Fair, said he saw “lots of smiles” at the area’s largest summertime event.
SIDEBAR: Sheep dogs do their thing at the Blue Hill Fair
By John Epstein
As sunshine pushed through wind-blown clouds on Aug. 30, at least 200 spectators crowded along the horse ring’s fencing at the far edge of the Blue Hill fairgrounds awaiting the sheep dog trials.
Ann Luginbuhl of Edmunds, Maine copped a choice spot at the corner of the ring. She and her late husband once kept 80 sheep with the help of a border collie named Molly.
“The best sheep dog in the world,” she said.
Stuart Whitman chartered a boat from Swan Island to take his family to the event. “We didn’t want to miss the action,” he said. “We love this competition.”
Inside a pen, a flock of 50 sheep milled about. They would soon be entering the ring in groups of four to be herded by sheep dogs. Lisa Molinero stood at the fence watching over a flock that had an unusually lean and ancient look.
Dave Craven with staff and Fae. Photo by John Epstein.
“They’re Gulf Coast Native sheep,” said Molinero, who owns the sheep with her husband, Tim Molinero. “They were brought to the New World by the Spanish in the 15th Century, but now they’re a critically endangered breed,” she added, explaining that factory farms prefer a bigger, more uniformly built animal.
Mike Perry, 25, who with his 5-year-old border collie, Dakota, won last year’s competition, waited nearby beside a livestock trailer. The young dog trainer had come up from his family’s farm in Plymouth, Mass. to compete again with Dakota, a female with a striking black and white face, and two other border collies, Dobby and Vega.
“I learned to train sheep dogs from my grandfather,” Perry said. That man, Richard Seaman, now retired, had learned his skills from sheep herders in the U.K. and Ireland. He was well-known on the New England sheep dog circuit for his long red pony tail.
“The dogs have very strong instincts to hunt, not herd,” Perry said, “so their first urge is to corner the sheep.” In order to turn the dogs into herders Perry initially uses a collar and a long-line leash. “I gradually shorten the leash to get them to go in the right direction on my command,” he said.
He noted that his dog, Dobby, began training at age 7, a little late in life and has had trouble focusing. “It’s been a little harder for him to learn the commands,” Perry said.
The competition
Just a little past noon, beside a wooden pavilion on the far side of the horse ring, Lynn Deschambeault, who helped organize the event—and who also had four of her own dogs in the competition—turned on a portable microphone to announce the start of sheep dog action.
Although the sound system was faulty, those who stood on Deschambeault’s side of the arena enjoyed the play by play delivered by Tim Molinero. Four sheep were nudged into the ring and huddled in a corner.
“They come out of the pen overheated and often don’t want to move,” Molinero said. Dobby, the first border collie to compete, seemed to think sheep should come to him. He lay on the ground without moving, until Perry gave a piercing whistle through his teeth, and Dobby got to work.
Lisa Molinero waits for competition with the sheep. Photo by John Epstein.
Molinero explained that the dogs need to guide the sheep through two chutes created with steel barricades and then guide them into a pen, all within four minutes. “But they have to go in the right direction, or they lose points,” he said. Dobby’s sheep entered the chute the wrong way.
Another nine border collies, directed by their trainers, took turns stepping into the ring to round up groups of sheep.
The dog breed is well-regarded for its ability to understand human voice commands. Indeed, Steve Lyons, a Mainer who now lives in Vermont, constantly barked out a goodly number of orders to the border collies he had entered in the event. Some of his favorites: “lie down,” “away,” “that’ll do,” “steady” and, most importantly, “listen.” His dog, Raven, listened well, and took first place. But his three-year-old dog, Bill, was admonished repeatedly to “listen” to no avail. He came in 10th.
Second place went to Perry with his dog, Vega. Dave Craven, who shepherds flocks kept on several Downeast Maine islands, took third place with Fae.
Many owners who compete have other professions.
“There are physicists, engineers, and even a cake designer,” Molinera said, looking over at Deschambeault, whose border collies, Rosie and Poppy, placed 5th and 6th on that day.
