Trucks and floats line up Saturday in preparation for the Clinton Lions Agricultural Fair parade in Clinton. Dylan Tusinski/Morning Sentinel
CLINTON — Very few parades have a lineup as eclectic as the yearly Clinton Lions Agricultural Fair.
Hundreds of people were lined up and down Main Street on Saturday morning to watch a string of costumed clowns, fiberglass cows, go-karts and more march through downtown Clinton.
In addition to the parade, the four-day fair, which began Thursday and continues through Sunday at the fairgrounds at 1450 Bangor Road, includes a number of vendors and rides, pulling events and contests.
Tickles the Clown, right, and his son march through downtown Clinton on Saturday during the Clinton Lions Agricultural Fair parade. Dylan Tusinski/Morning Sentinel
Tickles the Clown is a Clinton native who has marched in the parade with a face full of clown makeup all 39 years he’s been alive. He is part of Trott Family Clowns — a professional clowning operation that his family has helmed for five generations.
Tickles, who asked to be identified by his clowning name, explained the importance of tradition both as a resident of a small town and as the heir of the clown company, while leading a troupe of about a dozen clowns through the parade.
“I took over the role of Tickles from my uncle about three years ago, and I’ve had big shoes to fill — literally,” Tickles said, gesturing to his oversized clown shoes. “It’s all generational, both the clowning and the town. I do this every year and I see the same faces change over time. It’s almost like a family reunion.”
The clowns and cows were joined in the parade by groups of youth football players and cheerleaders who threw candy out to onlookers from atop a pair of flatbed trailers. Some drove go-karts and all-terrain vehicles decorated with ribbons and flags ahead of an array of fire trucks and police cruisers with their lights blazing.
The head of the parade featured a restored 1915 Ford Model T carrying the event’s grand marshals: Maine authors Ron Joseph and Amy Calder, the authors of Maine-centric books “Bald Eagles, Bear Cubs and Hermit Bill” and “Comfort is an Old Barn,” respectively.
Joseph said the duo was asked to lead the parade to show the importance of storytelling and literacy, themes at this year’s fair.
Their driver for the day was 77-year-old Pete Reny, who has spent decades fixing up both the 1915 Ford and dozens of other antique cars, trucks and tractors he owns. He’s been working on cars since he was a child, a tradition he said was passed down to him by his parents.
Amy Calder and Ron Joseph ride in the back seat of driver Pete Reny’s 1915 Ford Model T on Saturday as they prepare to lead the Clinton Lions Agricultural Fair parade in Clinton. Calder and Joseph are the grand marshals of the parade. The four-day fair continues through Sunday at the fairgrounds. For more information, visit clintonlionsagfair207.com. Dylan Tusinski/Morning Sentinel
“When I was growing up, my mother must have put WD-40 in my formula,” he joked.
Behind them all, two massive fiberglass sculptures of dairy cows towered over both parade marchers and onlookers.
The 15-foot, 3,000-pound cows were hauled in from New Hampshire atop a flatbed trailer by Fiesta Shows, the company contracted to run the fair this year.
They symbolize Clinton’s role as “The dairy capital of Maine,” according to Fiesta Shows organizer and Clinton resident Sarah Lund. Dairy farms in the town produce roughly 13% of Maine’s dairy, far more than any other single town.
“Dairy farming is big here, always has been and always will be,” she said. “Makes sense to bring some big cows in then, huh?”
Katie Lund, left, and Mae Bernardini, right, march Saturday in front of a 15-foot fiberglass cow during the Clinton Lions Agricultural Fair parade in Clinton. Dylan Tusinski/Morning Sentinel
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