Maine news, sports, weather | Kennebec Journal, Augusta, Maine

WINDSOR FAIR

Steers compete in heat -- under cover

Animals compete despite heat

By Mechele Cooper mcooper@centralmaine.com
Staff Writer

WINDSOR -- Maybe it was the heat.

click image to enlarge

Craig Walker, second from left, and Dan Jordan, right, stand in the shade of the Windsor Fair pulling ring Wednesday while waiting to pull a team of steers. The teamsters said they would not have pulled in such high tempatures unless the event was held under a roof to keep the critters in the shade.

Staff photo by Andy Molloy

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Craig Walker had the hardest time coaxing Junior -- who is half of Walker's team of pulling steers, alongside Rusty -- into dragging a heavy load of concrete at the Windsor Fair on Wednesday.

Rusty had no problem with the weighty task. He moved right into position, but it took Walker and two other men to hitch Junior to the pallet of blocks.

"Rusty's the shy one, but this one has an attitude," Walker said about Junior after the competition. "He likes to play around and act like a little kid."

The 44-year-old heavy-equipment operator from Augusta was dripping with sweat after he competed with his team. His animals seemed to fare better in the scorching heat on the fairgrounds.

The steer and oxen pulls were held in Vanner Arena, a covered area. Greg Baker, superintendent of the pulling ring, said the event would have been cancelled on Wednesday if it had been in the open, given the temperature.

Wednesday's high reached 95 degrees.

"In a covered pulling ring, there are no restraints for temperature," Baker said, "but if you're in the open and it's 85 degrees or over, you can't hold it. That's our rules. It has nothing to do with the state. We try to take care of the sport."

Walker said he wouldn't have missed the competition at his "hometown fair." He said the sport is a family tradition that he wants to continue. Both his father and son compete in pulling contests.

"We exercise two miles a day every day," Walker said of his team. "I work 11 1/2 to 12 hours a day, then come home and exercise them until 10 p.m. It's something you have to enjoy if you do it and make it a full-time hobby. This is my four-wheeler. You just can't put it away when you're done."

Walker said those who compete in the steer and oxen pulling events are like family. Patrick Jordan, 35, of Hollis found that out Wednesday. The structural engineer relied on friends to watch Addison, his 15-month-old baby, while he competed with his oxen team.

"We're all like a traveling family," Jordan said. "This sport is a family tradition. My father still does it. I do it. My brother and two older daughters do it. We go all over Maine and, once in a while, out of state."

Baker said 45 people entered the pulling competitions, which will continue Thursday. He said the sport originated among farmers who worked their teams in the fields and then on weekends competed against each other.

"They're mostly contractors and woodsmen who do it now. They can take off a day to come to the fair," he said. "It has to do with heritage for most of them. It's a family tradition that they want to keep going."

Jim Reynolds, a retired equipment operator from Vassalboro, sat in the stands and watched the men work their teams. Reynolds, 63, said he has been to the fair every day since it opened Sunday.

"I think this is interesting, although I like horse pulling better," Reynolds said. "I've been coming every day to pass the time away. It's boring not working and the fair's not that far away. It's a long day staying at home. I'll have all winter to do that."

In another part of the fairgrounds, despite high temperatures, Frank, 78, and Erika Harvey, 71, of Belfast twirled around to country music by the Freedom Riders and Tim Farrell. It was so hot, people who manned the many concession stands stood outside their trailers trying to keep cool.

Coming up at the Windsor Fair:

* Today is Senior Citizens Day. Admission for senior citizens costs $2. Oxen and steer pulling competitions start at 9:30 a.m. in Vanner Arena.

Other events include a veterans' day ceremony; a dairy cattle judging, including a parade of champions for overall grand champion dairy; a pig scramble for 10-year-olds; a sheep show; and a demolition derby at 7 p.m.

Friday is Children's Day.

Mechele Cooper -- 623-3811, ext. 408

mcooper@centralmaine.com