With clear skies, cooler temps, Friday crowds were better than fair

Healthy crowds showed up at the fair on Friday, hopefully a harbinger of numbers the rest of the weekend, said organizers. (Rochester Voice photos)

ROCHESTER - Just like someone with a sunny disposition can turn a frown into a smile, so it was on Friday at the Rochester Fair where one of the most pleasant sun-splashed days of the summer made all the snafus and disappointing crowds of Thursday's opening a distant memory.

Best of all, the weather is expected to stay sensational throughout the weekend with highs today and tomorrow around 70 with no chance of rain either day, according to Accuweather meteorologists.

Fair organizer and Rochester farmer Mark Perry, left, shows New Hampshire Agriculture Commissioner Shawn Jasper around the fair's Exhibition Hall on Friday.

On hand Friday and underscoring the importance of the fair to the community and its youth, New Hampshire's Agriculture Commissioner
Shawn Jasper visited the fair to talk about the role it plays in education and preserving the agricultural history so important to the Granite State.

"This is a remarkable comeback for the fair," Jasper said while viewing portions of the Exhibition Hall, which displays award-winning produce from local farms. "When something stops it's always so hard to bring it back."

Jasper went on to explain the connection between the fair and the education of local youth on the merits of the state's agrarian culture.

"So many young people, especially those who live in the city are so far removed from farming," he said. "They need to know more about where the food they eat comes from."

A WINNER EVERY TIME: A Boston Globe photo shoot team took over a Rochester Fair midway game booth for about an hour on Friday to shoot some pictures for an upcoming story on fall fashion.

Showing Jasper around the Exhibition Hall was fair organizer Mark Perry, himself a Rochester farmer.

Meanwhile, the Exhibition Hall, itself, was bustling with activity on Friday, with several more vendors adding their stalls on the fair's second day.

Outside on the midway, much larger crowds returned as well and continued to swell all the way till 7 p.m. when trailer racing was scheduled in the Grandstand.

Tonight will see the much-anticipated return of the school bus demolition derby in the grandstand. Other major events today include the Miss Rochester Fair Pageant in the Exhibition Hall at 1 p.m. and beer tasting in the Beer Tent, also at 1 p.m.

Doors open at 10 a.m.