Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Our Day at the Fair 2010

 

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Thursday, October 7th was our day for the fair. We’ve been going every year since we moved here back in 1981. Although it doesn’t change all that much except perhaps to get more expensive it’s still something we enjoy.

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I love the flower barn. It’s such a peaceful place and inspires me to work in the yard. Maybe it would be more effective in the spring versus the fall.

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One of the barns had a display of various fair memorabilia through the years. The sand sculpture is an annual event. I keep thinking one of these years I’ll put together all the photos we’ve taken of them, maybe next year.

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The pumpkin barn houses various prize winning vegetables, fruits, pumpkin art and of course the great pumpkin which would give Charlie Brown nightmares. I didn’t realize Cortland apples, which are our favorite, had their roots in NY.

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For me, the fair is all about the horses. Every year the Hallamore team comes to the fair. Their gentle beauty always puts me in awe. This year was a special treat in that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police were there. We, me especially, enjoyed their performance. Here is a link to some fair videos online.    Fair Snippets 

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Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Topsfield Fair Parade 2010

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The Topsfield Fair is the oldest county fair in the country. Every year they have a parade that marches down main street and ends at the fair grounds. Below is a sampling of some of the pictures I took. The house on the right above is what we stood across from.  The kids pediatrician used to be in there. When he retired we moved across the street with another doctor. The funny thing is a few years ago that practice moved back into the old house, so like the salmon, we’ve come back full circle.

Every parade starts with a police escort, lots of fire truck and tractors.

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The fair this year is special because the Royal Canadian Mounted Police are back. They come every other year and this year’s fair is the only venue they are attending in the United States. I love the horses and we’ve planned our fair visit to make sure we’ll be able to see them perform. Thursday will be fair day for us.

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Our high school is above right. They do fine but marching isn’t their forte. The Danvers High School Marching band is below. They are huge, precise and have marched in the Thanksgiving Day parades in NYC. They really are a pleasure to watch and listen to.

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We found the therapy bunny float interesting. I suppose the fact that our rabbit has the potential to be cranky and bite lets him off the hook for any kind of therapeutic benefit.

I hope you all enjoyed my take on the parade. Click on the photos for a larger look see.