LITCHFIELD — The sun shone brightly with seasonable temperatures around 75 degrees for the third and final day of the Litchfield Fair on Sunday. Parking lots were crowded by midday as cheerful volunteers dotted green marker on the wrists of eager fair-goers.

It was a family atmosphere as adults congregated behind the metal fences of the kiddy rides, smartphones in hand, ready to get that perfect picture of their child smiling and waving from atop a glittery homage to an ATV, complete with an array of blinking lights and horns that bleated like a lost calf.

Teens cruised the midway in groups, making their way to the center where rides like The Tornado, Zipper, Hurricane and Tilt-A-Whirl were waiting. For the customary $4 in tickets, those brave souls could enjoy a nearly three-minute mixed bag of spinning, rising and falling to induce a fair food-unfriendly vertigo.

In one of the large barns, children were pitted against each other in a peddle-tractor drag. The kid-powered tractors were fitted with weighted sleds, and tikes took turns going the distance in front of the large crowd.

Ely Cornish, 6, from Bowdoin completed a full, 60-foot pull. Ely said it felt good but the sled was “really heavy.” Ely’s little sister, Cassidy, 4, is a returning champion at the pulls, having won her division last year.

From somewhere near the exhibition halls, a woman’s voice came over the loudspeaker admonishing visitors to extinguish their smoking materials around the livestock and their wood-shaving bedding.

Have you ever wondered what it looks like to see children careening down the middle of a barn atop, beside and occasionally beneath one really confused sheep?

The next event answered that question as kids were adorned in knee and elbow pads and encouraged to take two hands full of wool and hang on for dear life.

One child, sporting a Kennebec Valley Animal Clinic T-shirt, was obviously taking the “trust me, I’m a doctor” approach as he straddled the bewildered bovine. It was standing room only as the sheep took off, unable to shake his jockey. The sheep stalled twice before finally bounding and throwing his rider to the ground.

It wasn’t all fun and games. Tears fell, for as any veteran sheep rider can tell you, it’s no fun to get sheep stomped.

When all was said and done, Trevor Pierce, 8, from West Gardiner came out victorious. Pierce said his strategy of, “hang on for dear life,” really paid off. Pierce said he avoided getting stomped by the sheep but said the ride is more daunting than it appears.

For his skillful riding, Pierce won a T-shirt, a first place ribbon and $20 — not to mention the undying respect of the sheep.

In the livestock area, Jesse Caron of Corinna tended to his belted Galloway cattle. He brought eight bovines with him for show purposes. Caron and his family tour cattle from their business, Casa Cattle Company, and have attended eight fairs this season. Caron said he plans on wrapping up after the Fryeburg Fair.

Caron said his son, Ashton, 11, and daughter, Abigail, 7, took first in showmanship for their categories in Litchfield. Caron said it’s a family affair, with Ashton washing all eight show cattle daily. He said the pampered animals are then dried and their bedding changed before being exercised for 30 minutes.

Back on the midway, a young boy was playing a children’s version of High Striker, and swing as he might with his big hammer, he could not ring the bell.

The game attendant distracted him with some tips while lifting up the metal striker. When the young man gave his final whack, the attendant threw the striker against the bell and congratulated the boy, who victoriously jumped.

Among the throng making their way through the midway was a group of people wearing identical orange shirts reading, “help Zac fight back” on them. Mother Angelic Korbet of Waterville said she wanted to bring attention to childhood cancer and raise awareness for her son Zac, 5, who is undergoing cancer treatment.

Korbet said she was hoping to raise awareness at the fair, and support for the Maine Children’s Cancer Walk on the 20th and her team that will be participating in the walk.

Sunday marked the end of the Litchfield Fair but fair season is in full swing throughout the state with the Cumberland and Fryeburg fairs toward the end of September. Plenty of opportunities remain to eat fried dough and listen to screams from the Zipper while viewing pumpkins of unusual size.

dmcintire@sunjournal.com

More agricultural fairs:

Sept. 10-13: Oxford County Fair, 68 Pottle Road, Oxford

Livestock shows, animal pull events, midway, crafts, exhibits and a new harness racetrack.

Sept. 12-14: New Portland Lions Agricultural Fair and The Maine Crafts Festival, Route 146, North New Portland

Midway, exhibit hall, animal and mechanical pulling, crafts, livestock exhibits, woodsmen day, stage shows.

Sept. 14-20: Farmington Fair, 292 High St., Farmington

Large midway, exhibit halls, livestock exhibits, animal pull events, harness racing, demolition derby.

Sept. 19-21: Common Ground Fair, 294 Crosby Brook Road, Unity

A celebration of rural life, demonstrations, Maine organic foods and crafts, livestock exhibits.

Sept. 21-27: Cumberland Fair, 197 Blanchard Road, Cumberland Center

Large exhibit halls, midway, livestock exhibits, animal pull events and harness racing.

Sept. 28-Oct. 5: Fryeburg Fair, 1154 Main St., Fryeburg

Maine’s largest agricultural fair features exhibit halls, museum, harness racing, midway and livestock shows.

*Source: Maine Association of Agricultural Fairs