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Charlie Smith, the Litchfield Fair president, smiles while operating a tractor Wednesday as he, Jerry Leet, left, and Melanie Page put together a fence to prepare for the Litchfield Fair that starts this weekend. (Anna Chadwick/Staff Photographer)

LITCHFIELD — For weeks now, as always, the people behind the Litchfield Fair have been running themselves ragged getting ready to open the gates Friday.

A lot of hard work goes into these small-town fairs, make no mistake, and the people of Litchfield want their big show to be accessible to as many people as possible.

In particular, two local groups have been planning special events this year for those with hearing issues.

Megan Garrity, a coordinator for the Maine Educational Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, sums it up with an eloquent flair.

“What might a Maine fair look like with more visuals to support student learning and curiosity at the animal exhibits?” Garrity asked. “What might a Maine fair look like with an American Sign Language interpreter alongside the butter-making queen herself?”

On Saturday, Sept. 6, the Litchfield Fairgrounds will host the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Family Fun Day, and we’re not talking about just a few watered-down events here. The day for the deaf will feature a wide range of the classic events people expect from a Maine fair.

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There will be pig racing at the Old MacDonald’s Farm. There will be butter making, a trip to the museum and the Wheeler’s Wee Farmer. The deaf and hard of hearing, in other words, will enjoy all the grandeur of the Litchfield Fair, including a slew of activities that may have been inaccessible to them previously.

Admission is free for all registered deaf and hard of hearing families and community members.

Karen Burr, of Richmond, gets shavings to place into livestock stalls Wednesday in preparation for the Litchfield Fair which begins Sept. 5 in Litchfield. (Anna Chadwick/Staff Photographer)

“Deaf and hard of hearing students often have limited opportunities to meet other peers and students who are like them,” Garrity said, “(limited) opportunities of seeing direct representation of themselves in their environment, such as seeing a peer with hearing assistive technology like hearing aids, a cochlear implant or a baha (bone-anchored hearing aid). 

“In other ways,” she said, “it can be for deaf and hard of hearing kids to see how other families communicate with each other, through American Sign Language or with Signed Supported Speech. The possibilities are endless. Our goal is to create opportunities through programs that are accessible and encourages family and peer engagement. The opposite of isolation being connection and belonging.”

The idea for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Day came from Amanda Wade Smith, a Litchfield Fair director who has a daughter, Daisy, with hearing issues.

“I just want everyone to be able to enjoy the fair,” Wade Smith said, “like I did growing up.”

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Wade Smith conceived of the idea around fair time in 2023, spending months talking to various groups and individuals with connections to the deaf and hard of hearing community.

Daisy Smith, who is hard of hearing and the inspiration behind the special day for the deaf and hard of hearing at the Litchfield Fair this year, skips Wednesday with her grandmother Carol Smith at the Litchfield Fairgrounds. Volunteers were hard at work preparing for the three-day fair, which starts Friday. (Anna Chadwick/Staff Photographer)

Wade Smith said that without help from Garrity and her group, along with Amber Woodcock from Maine Hands & Voices, “my idea would still be just that: an idea.”

It was Wade Smith’s notion that there should be American Sign Language access for everyone at the fair. There will be such access this year, and Wade Smith hopes it will stick.

It’s what a fair should be

For weeks now, volunteers have been meeting every Tuesday evening to plan for the upcoming fair and to do what needed doing.

It’s not a small task. The fairgrounds cover 15 acres with 19 buildings waiting to be filled will all the accouterments of a Maine fair.

In fact, this year volunteers built a clubhouse, tore down two rickety buildings and got to work replacing them.

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For Dawn Mills, who has referred to herself as the fair’s “superintendent of advertising,” it’s just business as usual, working in backbreaking overdrive to make this year’s fair the best of them all.

The Litchfield Fair motto has always been “It’s what a fair should be,” and this year, these volunteers want that to be true more than ever.

When you think of all that the fair has to offer, setting it all up starts to sound more like magic than just plain hard work.

There’s the antique auto show, the demolition derby, the scarecrow contest, the Redneck Truck Pull and the largest pumpkin competition.

There’s the pig scramble, the baby show, the kiddie pedal tractor event, the powder puff oxen pull and the apple pie contest.

There is too much going on Sept. 5, 6 and 7 at the Litchfield Fair, clearly, for us to list here. And this year, it will be more relevant and accessible to the deaf and hard of hearing than ever before.

More information, including the fair book and brochure, can be found at litchfieldfair.com.

Mark LaFlamme is a Sun Journal reporter and weekly columnist. He's been on the nighttime police beat since 1994, which is just grand because he doesn't like getting out of bed before noon. Mark is the...

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