After visiting the Paquettes during their time of grief, as my brother Tom and I were leaving, David mentioned his father was going to be competing in the Addison County Fair & Field Days hand-mowing in two days. I was suppose to being playing a round of golf with some Vermont golf buddies at Neshobe, but I felt that I may not get too many more chances to see Mr. Paquette mow. He was turning 99 years old in a week, but again, he has been part of Field Days my whole life.
The original Field Days was started by Mr. Paquette in 1948 as a means for sharing (exhibiting) agriculture techniques and advancements. You see, he was a local Extension Agent for Addison County and part of his job was helping the farmers and growers in the area. One of the main exhibit halls at the current site in New Haven is named for Mr. Paquette.
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| Sign on south side of building |
The Paquette exhibit building is very big and I can say it is appropriately named. In my short time there I ran into four different Paquettes while inside. They were exhibited well!
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| Wide angle view of Paquette Exhibit Building |
It had been many years since I had been to field days. I was not sure where the mowing was taken place but I had some time to walk around and find it.
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| Show horse with red ribbon on tail |
As I was admiring some of the horses that were preparing for their competition including one with a red ribbon in her tail, I saw a car coming with a Vermont plate with the number 372. That has always been Mr. Paquette's license plate.
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| David Paquette |
David was driving and did not see me, but I knew I should follow the car since they would be heading to the mowing area. I caught a picture of David leaving the parking area.
There was a film crew doing a story on "Lucien" and some of the history of the mowing competition. As Mr. Paquette leaned on his scythe, he discussed the finer points of the tool including his choice of a European scythe over the American version. Many of his children were there including three I did not see at the house two nights before, Jan, Rene, and Nancy.
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| Lucien Paquette discussing the scythe for the camera |
The lady in the green shirt to the right is a friend from my childhood, Diane Dubois Norris. She is one of the current directors (VP) for the Field Days organization. She told me it is her 30th year with the group. From another angle I was able to catch a good picture of David with all four of his sisters: Nancy, Jan, Barbara, and Judy.
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| Nancy, Jan, David, Barbara, Judy (& husbands) |
Although I tend to call it Field Days, as a lot of locals do, there is Fair part to the week-long event.
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| A rack of scythes before competition |
The next picture captures the essence of the old (a rack of scythes) with the new (Ferris wheels and other rides.)
That red barn is the Paquette exhibit hall that I showed earlier.
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| Mike and Sheryl Paquette |
Mike Paquette and his wife Sheryl showed up right before Mr. Paquette was to compete.
I was able to capture a great picture of Lucien with nine of his kids with assorted spouses and grandchildren. Francis and Steve were not there. Mr. Paquette had changed into a new shirt from the 2015 Field Days, and in the process had made some of his children blush as he changed shirts. While continuing the interview, he pulled off one shirt, put on the other, unbuttoned his pants and displayed his underwear so that he could properly stuff the new shirt into his pants. Lovely moment that I want to see in film. I was considerate and did not take any pictures. (I regret that now)
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| Mr. Paquette with nine of his children. |
Before the competition started, some of the competitors were asked to show off their scythes. You can see a variety of types in the picture below.
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| Competitors with their varied scythes |
I took photos of the youngest and oldest competitors.
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| Youngest competitor (note the broken arm) |
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| Oldest competitor; Mr. Lucien Paquette |
There were some horse's asses there but they were not competing!
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| Horses and grass mower |
As the mowing continued, there were some who definitely knew what they were doing. The competition includes either a 15 or 25 foot patch of grass to mow. The event is timed and then judged by width of the swath, the height of the mowed grass and evenness of stubble at several intervals. The tall grass to the right is where the next competitor will start. This is a 25 foot patch.
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| A great result in the younger event |
One year, all the Paquette children competed, but this year only Jan, the youngest, did her duty.
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| Jan before start of hand mowing |
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| Jan during competition with Dad cheering in back and brother Gary in foreground |
After the mowing was completed, I spent some time going through the exhibits and watching other competitions. I knew Vermont is a small state, but I did not realize the horses were so small too. I missed the little horse race.
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| Not sure what this competition was... |
This horse had his eye on me so I had to take a picture. Kind of looks like Trigger!
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| Horse eyeing me |
There were plenty of competitions going on. I stopped by the horse area and watched young girls competing in some king of dressage. The announcer would give them orders like direction to go, or speed like trot, gallop, walk...It was interesting. I have included a few pictures I took. During this event, an announcement came over for the whole park to have a moment of silence for Dennis Paquette, who had passed away two days prior. It was very moving since I had just spent lots of time with the family. Then the moment was over and she announced the winners of the horse event, delivered by two girls, one no more than 5 years old. Only in Vermont!
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| Horse competitor |
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| I really liked this horse! |
As an added note, I was informed by Francis Paquette's daughter-in-law Alexis that the Clydesdale being ridden in the last photo is Krista, the daughter of Francis. It is kind of ironic that I unknowingly took a picture a Paquette, on my blog about a Paquette.
So I found one more thing to do while being retired. I felt a little guilty since Mr. Paquette was competing at 98, he looks like he never will retire. He has things to do!
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