Fair attendance may have topped 35,000

SANDWICH — Warm and sunny weather brought out another large crowd for the third and final day of the 105th annual Sandwich Fair Monday.

Fair President Dan Peaslee said that the fair drew 11,500 people on Saturday despite cool weather and 14,500 showed up on Sunday, when the weather improved.

''There was even a good turnout Friday night when the midway was open for rides. A lot of high school students came out despite the rain,'' said Peaslee.

He said that there was another good turnout Monday and that he expected that total attendance for the three days would be 35,000 or better.

Among the more popular new events at the fair this year was a pickup truck pulling competition Monday which saw more than 500 spectators watching.

Also new this year was men's keg toss competition which was held in the same field as the popular women's skillet toss. Men were tasked with seeing how far they could toss a 22-pound beer keg.

Also new was a Lego competition held at the Smith Exhibit Hall which featured members of Lego Cubs from the Sandwich and Moultonborough libraries.

The fair attracted livestock exhibitors from all over the state, including Alex Zintel of Weare, a member of the Sugar Hill 4-H Club, who brought her 15-month old Pinzgauer, a breed of Austrian cattle, to the show. Zintel said that she has taken ''Shiloh'' to 11 fairs this year and that she has won numerous ribbons.

Dottie Bell of Waterford, Maine, brought her American Milking Devon oxen Dillon and Eddie to the fair, where they competed in an ox cart competition.

Drawing ''oohs'' and ''ahs'' from the crowd were a team of giant Swiss oxen from Ox-K Farm in Gilford, who have a combined weight of over 5,200 pounds and were led through the ox cart course by owner Ron Salanitro.

James Rines of Ossipee and his wife, Brooke, were among those impressed by the sheer size of the oxen. Rines, who runs White Mountain Survey and Engineering and is the former chairman of the Kingswood Regional School Board, said that he and his wife never miss the Sandwich Fair.

''We've been here some years when it was snowing but this day is really nice, a great day to be at the fair,'' said Brooke Rines.

Nathan Chellis, also of Ossipee, brought his tree-year-old son Jacob to the fair and took him around to all of the animal displays. ''He really likes the animals, like these goats, but his favorite thing here is the slide. It's hard to get him off from it.'' said Chellis.

Greeting visitors the Sandwich Historical Society booth was life-long Sandwich resident Joan Cook, 79, who was also selling copies of the book she wrote about Sandwich Fair in 2011 ''Sandwich Fair through the Years".

Cook who was raised in Center Sandwich at the intersection of Bean Road and Rte. 113, says that she can remember when the fair was spread out over the central part of the town rather than concentrated in the fairgrounds.

She and her husband, Wilbur, 86, and their family were honored during the 100th anniversary fair in 2010 in which they rode in the Center Sandwich Concord coach in the Grand Parade.

She said that she was motivated to write a book about the fair's history with the thought that the memories so dear to her heart would be lost to future generations.

''I kept thinking if someone doesn't wrote this down it could be gone,'' says Cook.

with pix slugged Sandfair

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Joan Cook, lifelong resident of Sandwich, holds a copy of her book abut the history of the Sandwich Fair which was published in 2011. (Roger Amsden photo for the Laconia Daily Sun)

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A men's keg toss with a 22-pound beer keg was a new event at this year's Sandwich Fair. (Roger Amsden photo for the Laconia Daily Sun)

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Ron Salanitro of Ox-K Farm in Gilford walks his Swiss oxen Jake and Max back into the Oxen Barn at the Sandwich Fair. (Roger Amsden photo for the Laconia Daily Sun)

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A stilt walker makes his way past dancers in the Stage Area at Sandwich Fair. (Roger Amsden photo for the Laconia Daily Sun)

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Dancers do their version of the 1960s Twist at the Stage Area at he Sandwich Fair to the music of Annie and the Orphans. (Roger Amsden photo for the Laconia Daily Sun)