Granite State Fair's first Saturday a soaring success

AT THE TOP OF HER GAME: Emelia Michaud, 11, of Old Orchard Beach, Maine, prepares to do a flip at she elevates on a bungee cord at the Granite State Fair on Saturday. (Rochester Voice photos)

ROCHESTER - The newly branded Granite State fair had a crowd on Saturday that would have made its lineage proud.

The Exhibition Hall was teeming, the circus crowds were ooohing and ahhhhing and the midway was buzzing with the sounds of screaming teens on thrill rides, youngsters begging for money to play games and parents running back to the ATM for more cash.

The Granite State Fair's midway was packed on Saturday with folks trying their luck at a carnival game, buying merch or sampling some crave-worthy carnival food.

And it was hot, so hot that one Fiesta Shows vendor was hawking free ice water to entice folks to his kiosk so he could then try to sell them an Italian ice.

At central command fair organizers like Mark Perry and Nancy Griffith triaged incoming calls, from "someone needs a wheelchair to help an elderly fairgoer in distress" to "someone's still trying to sign up for one of the upcoming demolition derbies."

Meanwhile, Circus Hollywood did their show in an outside ring this year under puffy clouds and a blistering sun that had people fanning themselves with whatever they could find.

HEAVY WORKLOAD: Work horses Dollar Bill and Rewind of the 3,320-pound class pull a sled carrying 6,900 pounds Saturday at the Granite State Fair pulling ring. They are owned by Bruce and Ruthanne Durgin of Deefield.

Down in the pulling area, pairs of mammoth work horses worked up a sweat pulling nearly 7,000 sleds across dirt as part of the fair agrarian nod to New Hampshire's past.

Today's weather should be the most spectacular of the fair's run, with temps cooler than Saturday and much less humid.

Helicopter rides will be available again today, taking off from the center of the racetrack.

Tonight's entertainment in the grandstand features the Demo Derby at 7 p.m.

Another highlight today will be the Miss Granite State Fair Pageant in the Exhibition Hall at 3 p.m.