North Stonington Agricultural Fair opens for the 55th year

New attractions this year included goat yoga and an obstacle course for the goats

North Stonington — Dark clouds floated overhead, but the rain held off just long enough to allow the 55th North Stonington Agricultural Fair to open without a hitch.

The fair began Thursday evening with goats, food and some antique tractor pulls.

Fair President Mike Riley said that even after 55 years, the annual event still plays an important part in the community.

“A lot of people who have been coming here for 10 or 20 years come here just to see people they only see here,” Riley said. “Everybody wants to have a good time. We can’t get bigger since we’re landlocked, but I always push for us to get better.”

The Eastern Connecticut Farm Tractor Puller Association held their speed limit tractor pulls. Although not as loud as the main tractor pulls, which are being held on Friday, the speed-limited pulls still could be heard throughout the grounds. Connecticut resident Zach Bisson, who has been competing in tractor pulls across the northeast for five years, says that the bonds with his competitors help draw him in to compete.

“It’s just a fun thing to do,” Bisson said. “You have your regular family and then you

have your pulling family. You see the same guys at each competition. Sometimes there’s a cash prize or trophies, but mostly it’s just for bragging rights.”

New attractions this year included goat yoga and an obstacle course for the goats to run. Riley also was excited by the local artists they booked for the fair. Thursday night saw local country artist Nick Bosse and the Northern Roots Band perform. Friday will see the performance group Sugar take the stage.

While Riley enjoys the support coming from the thousands of patrons that will attend the fair, he hopes that people will come to meetings to help put the fair together.

“People don’t realize that there’s a lot that goes into (the fair),” Riley said. “I have people who have been working here for years that have to take tickets all day. It’d be nice to have some people come down and help so they can go home and go to bed after working so hard.”

Riley said anyone who is interested in helping can go to the fair organizers’ monthly meetings, held on the second Tuesday of every month at 7 p.m. at 21 Wyassup Road.

PHOTOS BY DANA JENSEN/THE DAY Above, Paityn Deshefy, 9, of North Stonington gives Will Gladden of Groton a chance to pet her Pygmy goat, Cora, as she goes down the line after people saw that the goats for the goat yoga class did not show up Thursday during opening night of the North Stonington Agricultural Fair at the North Stonington Fairgrounds. Paitlyn and Cora were the only ones to show up for the goat race so they visited the yoga class, since there wasn’t a race. Below, Bradley Caiola, 11, takes a bite of chocolate-covered cheesecake rolled in Fruity Pebbles cereal, which he’s sharing with his sister, Brittaney Schuessler, both of Richmond, R.I., on Thursday.

DANA JENSEN/THE DAY Announcer Marvin Shaw of Mystic, center, talks to the crowd about the tractor pull while the next contestant, in background, prepares for his turn Thursday during opening night of the North Stonington Agricultural Fair at the North Stonington Fairgrounds. Elliott Burroughs of Canterbury, left, president of the Eastern Connecticut Farm Tractor Pullers and organizer of the event, looks on.