CLINTON — Town resident Sarah Wishart-Rogers knew she wanted to rebound from last year’s third-place finish in the apple pie contest at Maine Farm Days at Misty Meadows Farm.
So she went to the local apple orchard and searched for a new product.
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“The owner told me when the ‘old ladies’ come to buy pie apples, they buy duchess apples,” Wishart-Rogers said, holding her daughter Anna and a first-place ribbon. “I entered last year and got third place out of three pies, and I told myself I was going to do better this year.”
Not only did Wishart-Rogers improve with her first-place ribbon, but the number of entries also jumped to 11 apple pies. Entries in the whoopie pie competition also reached 11, including the winner, Albion resident Heidi Dow. The increase in the number of contestants was indicative of the event itself, which grew substantially, according to Belinda Stoughton, one of the owners and operators of Misty Meadows Farm.
“A lot of people have been showing up,” Stoughton said about 3 p.m. Wednesday, on the first day of the two-day event, adding that more than 1,000 people had walked through the farm by early afternoon. “Our Facebook page had a lot of hits leading up to the event. A whole host of vendors are here.”
Acres of the dairy farm, which has several hundred cows, were filled with agriculture vendors, including tractor companies and seed companies, various crafts for sale; and a learning center to educate children about dairy farm operations.
“We are educating the public,” said Stoughton, who owns the farm with her husband, John, and Thomas and Kimberly Wright. “A lot of the people that come through here are farmers, but there is also a lot of the general public, and we try to educate them on what dairy farming is really about.”
Stoughton said she expected roughly 3,000 people to attend the event, which features wagon tours, a cornfield maze, tractor pulls and many other farming activities.
Jesse Scardina — 861-9239
Twitter: @jessescardina
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