By BOB MARTIN
Eagle Times Staff
CORNISH, N.H. — The Cornish Fair is approaching 75 years now, and while plenty of it has evolved over the years since its inception, the focus on agriculture has remained constant.
“The interesting this is that studies have been all over the country, where they have surveyed people going to the fairs about what is important for them,” said Steve Taylor, who has been to nearly every Cornish Fair and is a former member of the board of directors. “Invariably, agriculture comes out at the top. If there isn’t much agriculture, people feel that they just went to a carnival.”
Taylor said the 4-H aspect is “front and center” at the Cornish Fair. Some fairs will have livestock off in the distance or will just have a barn with animals brought by a farmer that are barely shown. In Cornish, everything revolves around where the cattle are.
“We have a competition about the best corn and best hay,” Taylor said. “They have a cow who decides the best hay. The cow will sniff them all and gets to choose. They’ll let it sniff each pile and the cow will sniff and sniff, and you can see ‘em, they’ll go right for one and chew right on it.”
Taylor, 85, was an attendee at the Cornish Fair from day one when it was a little penny jamboree. The only time he missed one was when he was serving in the army. He explained that in 1949 it was called a “bazaar” to raise money to pay for an architect to draw up plans for a central school for the town of Cornish. At that time, Cornish had a handful of one-room schools, and people felt the town should have a central school. They didn’t have the money to pay for an architect, so this was intended to help with that.
“It grew from there,” Taylor said. “The next year it was called a fair, and it’s been a fair ever since.”
Taylor said that right from the beginning, this has been 100% volunteer led. This includes the board of directors and its workers.
“The fair is run for the benefit of the community, and I think you could say, all of Sullivan County,” Taylor said. “It has always kept that vibe and atmosphere.”
In 1953, the Sullivan County 4-H program had a fair in Unity and it merged with Cornish, Taylor said.
“It still has the biggest dairy show in New Hampshire by far, and it’s got to rank in the top two or three in New Hampshire and Vermont in numbers of dairy cattle,” Taylor said. “There’s ox pulling, horse pulling, antique tractors, a woodsman competition and all kinds of exhibits of fruits and vegetables people have produced.”
He added that there are culinary items, like pies and cookies, and everything under the sun that relates to farm life.
“They even have a competition for the best scarecrow,” Taylor said. “I get a kick out of that.”
Fred Sullivan is another who has been there since the start, saying that he attended the first Cornish Fair when he was 10-years-old. He recalls getting a calf from his father for his birthday to bring to the fair to present. Sullivan walked away with a blue ribbon-something that makes him smile to this day.
“As a youngster I wanted to have a calf to show at the fair, and my father asked me if they got me a calf, would I take it,” Sullivan recalled. “I said, ‘Yes, I would.’ We took it down on the back of the tractor to the fair and the judges gave me a blue ribbon. I was proud, but I didn’t have a lot of competition. In fact I didn’t have any competition.”
Sullivan and his wife were in charge of the cattle show for about 20 years. He loves how it is still a family fair where you can “turn the kids loose and not have to worry.” Sullivan is a regular attendee of many fairs around the state, and said the Cornish Fair stands out among others for this reason.
“It’s a great family, friendly fair where everyone can have a good time,” Sullivan said. “When I was a kid I kept going all the way through when my children came along, and they got involved showing prize winning animals.
While agriculture is always the main focus, that doesn’t mean it is all that the Cornish Fair has to offer. There is the food, of course, and also rides, music with a plethora of music, and a little of something for all ages.
“I like to sit and relax, and watch the kids showing the cattle,” Taylor said. “A little 10-year-old leading their calf around, that’s great. It’s a time where you can bump into people you know, and some who maybe you haven’t seen for a year. Maybe they’re bringing their grandkids along for the fun. It’s the social dimension that is interesting.”
