The Harmony Patriarchs Club Presents
the 71stAnnual Harmony Free Fair - 2018
Welcome to the 71st Harmony Free Fair brought to you by the Harmony Patriarchs Club. We have been working hard since last year to make the 2018 fair a great time for all that attend this Labor Day weekend. Over the past year, we have put the finishing touches on the new food pavilion as well as finishing the inside of our fiber and animal barn. We have also doubled the amount of picnic tables on the fairgrounds so that you will have a place to sit and enjoy our delicious fair food. The Fairgrounds are growing! Earlier this year we acquired almost two acres of land behind the animal barns and will be developing it in the future.
We continue to give back to the community. We have helped sponsor after school enrichment programs, provided funding for a hands- on fun science show and hosted the fishing day where the kids get to learn how to fish. We have again provided funds for class trips, library books, and scholarships for any of Harmony’s graduating seniors who are going on to college.
One of our community betterment programs celebrated its one year anniversary in May. We have watched the Harmony Cares food pantry grow and make a huge impact on many residents of Harmony and surrounding towns. A big thank you to all the volunteers that make this program possible.
So what’s going on at the fair this year? Kavanaugh Amusements will be back with a great selection of midway rides for all ages along with plenty of games. For those of you who like Demo derbies, truck pulls, 1/4 tractor pulls, Doodlebug and antique tractor contests, this year’s fair is the place to be. Animal lovers will not be disappointed with our animal barns, sheepdog demonstrations, horse and oxen pulls. We will also have our horse show and pig scramble. New this year is a lizard show that should not be missed. The ever growing Exhibit Hall will be full of great exhibits including a honeybee exhibit, which is also new this year.
Sunday night fireworks will return this year. We were all disappointed that they were rained out last year. This year’s display is expected to be spectacular. Our entertainment stages have been booked full this year with something going on for everybody’s musical tastes at one time or another. We will, again, hold our bike contest where we give away 30 bikes to some lucky kids. No one will want to miss the talent show or our prize ticket drawing with over 40 winners.
Everybody loves fair food and we have it! Please visit our food pavilion for some great tasty treats. Why cook on Labor Day weekend when you can sample some of the new things that will be on the Patriarchs Club food booth menu? We have plenty of seating. The amount of picnic tables on the grounds has doubled! Please support our other vendors as well. Many have been coming to the fair for years. They love this fair.
Remember we have no gate fee and parking is free. We are an all-volunteer community group and are always looking for new people who would like to get involved with our club and the fair. Please contact any one of our members at anytime if you have an interest of volunteering. It’s a great way to become part of the community and a great way to give back to town.
We had a great fair last year and hope we can improve on it this year. We hope you can come to join us. SEE YOU AT THE FAIR
SEE YOU AT THE FAIR!
Jeff Chadbourne
2017 Letter from the President
2016 Letter from the President
2015 Letter from the President
2014 Letter from the President
2013 Letter from the President
2012 Letter from the President
- The Harmony Patriarchs Club
Presents the 69 Annual
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Harmony Free Fair - 2016
Welcome to the 69 Harmony Free Fair! The Harmony Patriarchs Club has been busy over the past year
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planning and putting together what will be the best fair ever for this year. As always we listen to
comments and suggestions made during and after the fair. Last year we heard you loud and clear that we
need shade over the bleachers that surround the main stage. We put this at the top of our list for
improvements and there will be shade over all of those bleachers this year.
We also heard “Where is the horse show that you always had on Labor Day?” Well the answer is it’s
back bigger and better with over $1,000.00 being awarded. See it Monday after the parade.
This year’s entertainment will be fantastic with some new groups and some old favorites. Sadly, this past
year the Harmony Free Fair lost one of its most beloved entertainers, Mr. Bob Elston. Please join us
Saturday when we will be presenting a plaque to his wife for the many years he played at our fair.
Kavanaugh Amusements will be providing the midway again and are bring plenty of rides to fill the
midway - some of which have not been here before. Look for more vendors this year.
This year we will be giving away THIRTY bikes on Monday afternoon - that’s 10 more than last year.
You must be present to win. We had lots of happy kids last year.
This is the 25 year of the pie auction and this one will have some special surprises. Huge thanks to Rosie
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and Glen Carlow for doing this over the years.
We will be adding more agricultural demonstrations this year. They were very popular last year and once
again we will be awarding $100 to what we feel is the best one. Each presentation should be about 30
minutes long and can be anything from a lecture to a demonstration to a field trip around the fairgrounds.
Please contact us to set up a time for you.
For the 5 year we have had our fair poster designed by running a contest at our local school and it’s a
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beauty this year. We will also be selling our one-of-a-kind t-shirts at the prize ticket booth during the fair.
While you’re there, remember to buy your prize tickets for the grand prize drawing. You do not need to
be present to win.
Please look through our fair book to find the events that you can’t miss, be it the truck pull, demolition
derby, pig scramble, fireworks, quarter scale tractor pull, or livestock shows and the list goes on and on.
We continue to support our community through scholarships, awards, and special events like fishing day
for the kids. Don’t forget to get three of your buddies together and sign up for our 2 annual volleyball
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tournament. The fair will make a donation of $200 to the charity of the winning team’s choosing.
Projects that we would like to do in the future are combining the Patriarchs Club’s food booths and - adding a covered area where people could sit, eat and visit. We would also like to finish the inside of the
fiber arts building, and add a new food booth by the demo derby area. Also on our wish list is adding
lights to the livestock arena for night events and other general improvements to the fairgrounds. All of
this will take time and money.
As it has always been, our fair will remain Maine’s only free agricultural fair with no gate fee and free
parking. This is made possible by the large amount of volunteers in the community. I want to thank
members of the Fire Department, Ambulance, Community Center and the other people in the community
that give up their time to volunteer to work a few hours during the fair and in the weeks that lead up to it.
Some Patriarchs Club members this year have given up a weekend to go to a food safety seminar.
Another member has spent this winter putting together a safety plan for our fairgrounds.
Please remember we consider our fair a family event. No alcoholic beverages are permitted and smoking
is prohibited. Anyone that is disorderly will be asked to leave. We love all our four-legged friends but
our midway is not the place for them unless they are service animals, so please leave your pets at home.
They will probably be happier staying away from the crowd.
If you would like to learn more about the Patriarchs Club and the Harmony Free Fair, please ask anyone
wearing an orange Patriarchs Club shirt at the fair, call one of the numbers in this book, or check out our
Facebook page.
SEE YOU AT THE FAIR!
Jeff Chadbourn