LITCHFIELD — Inside a low slung building smack dab in the middle of the fairground, a group of men, women and kids are eating sandwiches in a bit of a haste. 

There has to be haste because with the Litchfield Fair set for Sept. 6, 7 and 8, there is a whole lot of work to be done. 

For some, it would be daunting setting up an entire fairground — 15 acres with 19 buildings — with only days to do it.

Litchfield Fair volunteer Andy WIlliams “freshens up” Tuesday night around the Information Booth at the fairground on Plains Road in Litchfield. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal

But these are not just any volunteers. This group of nearly 20 has been working together in one way or another, for generations. There are older ladies working alongside their grandchildren. Familial connections are all over the place. 

When this group gets to working, they work hard, they work smart and they’re motivated. 

The Litchfield Fair motto has always been “It’s what a fair should be,” and this year, these volunteers want that to be true more than ever. 

“We’ve had a lot of challenges with our membership and directorship with serious health issues and that’s been difficult,” said Dawn Mills, who, when forced to provide a title calls herself the superintendent of advertising. “One of our directors passed away unexpectedly just recently and we’ve dealt with a lot of sadness, so we’re even more determined to make it a great year in memory of those people. 

“We’re a small crew,” Mills said, “but we’re like family. It’s a wonderful group of people to work with.” 

The Litchfield Fair has a lot going on this year. In addition to the usual horse and pony shows, scarecrow contests, steer pulls, truck pulls, antique auto shows, pig racing, butter making demonstrations, apple pie contests and all the other good stuff people expect from fairs, this year’s organizers added a few things. 

One is a sensory garden, with plants that visitors can touch, smell and feel. The volunteers each take turns watering the garden and keeping it ship shape. 

There’s also a “meet your farmer” theme at work for this year’s fair. Farmers will mingle with guests, giving talks, answering questions and interacting in various ways.

One of the things that drives this fair is the versatility of its volunteers. There are people with expertise in carpentry, others who are gifted at painting, some who deal with electrical matters and plenty who just go all in with hard work and elbow grease. 

Litchfield Fair volunteer Betsy Laney paints the arts and crafts area Tuesday night at the Litchfield Fairground on Plains Road. “This is why I retired, so I can work twice as much for free,” she said with a smile. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal

Lynn Cameron has been volunteering with the fair for 12 years. Her mother, now 86, had been working with the fair for much longer than that, so you could say that Lynn has been involved her whole life. 

A couple years ago, she helped oversee a project to dig up the floor of an exhibition building to dig out roots that were causing havoc with the floor. 

Now that building has a flawless new floor and fresh paint. It’s empty though. Where are all the vendor displays, the farm stands, the Scout display cubbies? 

Don’t you worry. Lynn Cameron is going to take care of all that. 

“Oh, I’ll be dancing on the tables, getting them all decorated with whatever is brought in,” she says with gusto. “You show up here on Friday and this will be all different.” 

Carol Smith is a secretary with the Litchfield Farmers Club, but she takes on a whole lot of different roles, too. One of them is providing food to the volunteers who are known to work long and arduous hours. With the outpouring of volunteer help this year, that meant for a lot of sandwiches. 

“When people started coming in I said, we need to feed them because they come in, they work until dark.” 

Litchfield Fair President Charlie Smith, right, and Vice President Dick Brown talk Tuesday night while enjoying a meal with volunteers before heading out to set up for next week’s fair on the grounds on Plains Road in Litchfield. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal

As the volunteers get to work — and there’s work going on all over the fairground — one can tell they’re not strangers. Everybody seems to know everybody else. There’s chatter and laughter, but the work goes on unimpeded. 

Mills has been around this community her entire life. She’s third generation, after all. Her grandfather was heavily involved in the fair and her father was president of it for many years. 

Mills taught school for 38 years, so she hasn’t always had two feet in with the efforts to get the fair going year after year. 

“But when I retired,” she said, “I started working with these people and they’re so great. They’re just so amazing.” 

Last year was rough, Mills recalls, because the heavy rains that lasted all summer meant for a late haying season. When it came time to set up the fair, the volunteers had to do without a lot of the tractors and manpower, which were out in the fields instead of at the fairground. 

“We were putting out trash barrels at 10 o’clock the night before the fair,” Mills said. “Hopefully this year is going to be better.” 

The fair gates will open at 7 a.m. and close at 9 p.m. 

Litchfield Fair volunteers Tim Tracy, left, and Karen Burr discuss Tuesday night where to put a new exhibitor at the Litchfield Fairground on Plains Road in Litchfield. “I have been coming to the fair every year of my life except six years when I was working.” Burr said. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal

According to a brief history of the Litchfield Fair from the official 2024 fair booklet: “The Litchfield Agricultural Society was organized in 1857 and held its first agricultural exhibition the following year. In the early years, Litchfield Fair was held in the yard of what was formally known as the Litchfield Town House. After a while the fair moved to the old ‘trotting park’ which is now known as the Litchfield Fairgrounds. In 1904, after a period in which the annual exhibits declined, it was reorganized as the Litchfield Farmer’s Club, and that name continues to the present time.”

It’s estimated that 16,000 people attend the fair each year.

The prices for admission have been nudged up this year as the club contends with rising costs just like everybody else. This year, those under 12 or over 65 get in for five bucks. Seniors still get in for free on Friday. For all else, it’s $10 and parking is free. 

When you look at the fair schedule, available on their website, that still feels like a bargain. 

Each day is crammed full of activities; dozens of shows, exhibits and demonstrations, and that’s not to mention live music by bands such as the Carol Bailey Band, Senior Steppers, Don Roak and the Happy Hour Band, Moosehedz Band and New Realm Band. 

The main gates are closed Tuesday night at the Litchfield Fairground on Plains Road in Litchfield. They will open Sept. 6 for the three-day fair. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal

There are shows by the likes of Showtime Steve, the Oak Hill cheerleaders, Alma Lea’s Dance Studio, Back Seat Drivers Ed, and Mr. Drew and His Animals, Too. 

Then you get the classics, like the Red Neck Truck Pull, a demolition derby and the Driver’s Ed Course, which features a backward, blindfolded obstacle course. 

That’s a lot to set up, but consider this: the fair crew began meeting and planning all this back in April. They’ve been meeting regularly since then, and now they’re all in, working until dark to make sure that when it’s show time, they have their best show to put on. 

“A lot of people,” said Mills, “have worked very hard.” 

More information, including schedules and online tickets, can be found at litchfieldfair.com.