MIDDLEBORO — The first East Middleboro 4-H Fair since the Covid-19 pandemic began brought farm animals, dog agility trials, carnival food, and other attractions to the East Middleboro 4-H grounds, 183 Thompson St., Saturday, Sept. 3.

The 4-H organization provides clubs for young people to learn new skills, including dog training, baking, crafts, gardening and raising poultry. The annual fair is one of the East Middleboro 4-H Club’s biggest fundraising events of the year and allows club members to demonstrate what they learned in the previous year.

“Enrollment tapered off and we couldn’t meet for a while,” said Heather Kundzicz, who helps lead East Middleboro’s 4-H and is a co-leader of its Nature’s Navigators club. “It’s great to be back. We’re looking for new members because it’s a really good organization for the kids.”

Bill Strojny,  84, was the chairman of the 4-H fair in years past and his three kids were involved in the organization.

“The whole thing that you see here is volunteers,” Strojny said. “It’s a good organization, it’s for the kids, and we have different things to help out the kids.”

One of the fair’s mainstays over the decades, Frank & Dorothy’s Country Store, returned with a line that gathered before the day officially began at 8 a.m. The store sells donated goods ranging from toys to furniture to musical instruments, among other items.  

Faith Flateau, who worked as a cashier at the store on Saturday morning, said someone told her they had been coming to Frank & Dorothy’s for 50 years.

“A lot of these people have been here year after year,” Kundzicz said. “They’re loyal fans of ours. We have so many donations that are made. We do really well with those donations which are so important. It actually keeps the lights on and the heat on so we can meet here.”

Throughout the fair, older club members guided younger ones in their activities. Molly Quinn, 12, helped her brother Connor Quinn and their friend Henry Gomes, both 9, raise sheep which were on display at the fair. They raise the sheep at the Soule Homestead Education Center. 

Ella Griswold, 17, helped younger members of the Satucket River and Round of A-Paws Dog Clubs guide their canine companions through an obstacle course.

Cows joined the festivities, too. Calla and Lily, two calves under a year old, and the mother-son duo of Apple and Mystery enthralled visitors and stayed still for pats and treats from onlookers.

Saturday’s Swine Show and Poultry Showmanship events were called off because of a lack of entered pigs and state-wide fears regarding avian flu, respectively.

Near the back of the fair, Paul Mennett of Cruisin’ New England Magazine set up a collection of classic cars to promote another fundraising event for East Middleboro 4-H, the Spooktacular Fall Festival on Oct. 2. The event involves even more classic cars that are decked out for Halloween, trick-or-treating, and plenty of contests.

“The kids learn a lot,” Strojny said. “Depending on what they’re into, whether they’re into dogs or into sheep, there’s all kinds of clubs that 4-H has. There’s a knitting club, a sewing club, and on and on. There’s a lot of camaraderie.”

The fair continues Sunday, Sept. 4.