Our Maine Street's Aroostook Issue 6 : Fall 2010 | Page 30

Fair is Fair
by Dan Ladner

Is it just me, or has the Northern Maine Fair lost
its flair for excitement through the years? I realize that
through children’s eyes, things seem much bigger and
better than they really are, but is that reason enough for
me to lose interest in even attending the fair any more?

Back in 1945 when I was eight, and my sister Ann
was four, the fair was a big deal. Families looked forward
to the annual event with great anticipation. We kids
gawked at fair posters tacked to telephone poles all over
town. There were even billboards back then announcing
the big week-long event. My folks always built it up by
talking about all the things we were going to see and do
– and all the rides we were going to go on. Ann would
be so excited a day or two before it opened, she would
always have a nosebleed. My dad was an ABC Bakery
delivery man and he was assigned to distribute bread, hot
dog and hamburger rolls, and pastries to all the eating

establishments on the fairgrounds. He took me with
him every day in his truck during the deliveries. I could
hardly wait!

The World of Mirth Midway was brought to
Presque Isle by railroad flatcars. Arriving very late on
a Saturday night, many townspeople (including my
little family of four) would gather at the railroad station
to wait for the arrival of the train. It was one of the
most exciting feelings that a rural American child could
experience in his life…it was literally “the circus coming
to town!” Even the unloading process was exciting – and
noisy. Large Cole’s Express trucks would be lined up and
down the streets to haul the circus-like boxcars from the
train to the ground, then roar off with them from the
station to the fairgrounds. Even at midnight, Presque
Isle was alive with excitement for this