After losing their leader, Cumberland fair organizers step up in his memory
Sep. 21—The Cumberland County Fairgrounds are dotted with Lyle Merrifield's contributions.
The sawmill building and sugarhouse? He built those. The Canadian livestock? He helped coordinate their trip across the border.
And the tight-knit community of directors, organizers and attendees? In many ways, he forged that too, said those close to Merrifield, who was 62 when he died unexpectedly Sept. 8, just weeks before the Cumberland County Fair's 152nd season, which starts Sunday.
"He's really everywhere you look. He has his own touch on really every department here," Merrifield's daughter, Molly Bellefleur, said this week as she prepared to welcome visitors to the grounds. She runs the fair's on-site museum, having taken the reins from her father years ago.
Merrifield served as president of the Cumberland County Fair since 2020, following decades overseeing the museum, operating the sugarhouse and working countless odd jobs to keep the festivities running. Friends and fellow organizers said he brought passion and vision to the fair, which has run almost every year since 1869.
As they grieved Merrifield's death, organizers also were left to put the finishing touches on this year's preparation without his usual guidance.
"Everybody wakes up in the morning still in disbelief that this happened," said Tammy Sawyer, one of the fair's directors. "He was truly a unique leader that could never be replaced, but we've got a great board of directors, leadership team, and everybody's collaborating."
Sawyer said the entire crew was "leading like Lyle" as they approached opening day, trying to make sure the fair lives up to his standards.
Bellefleur and Sawyer both said that Merrifield was quick to jump in when he sensed others needed a hand, and they hoped to carry that same energy into this year's fair, which runs through Sept. 28.
Sawyer recalled a moment during last year's festivities when Merrifield saw that ticket-takers at the museum were becoming overwhelmed, so he "hopped in line" to help.
"He just jumped right in, and that staff has never forgotten that moment," Sawyer said.
In the meantime, until a new president is elected this winter, vice president Ted Googins is serving in Merrifield's place. Speaking Thursday morning, he said the former president had left a solid plan for what more needed to be done, and things were coming together smoothly.
"But, obviously, people had to step in to finish it," Googins said. "We've gotten more done in the last two weeks than I don't think I remember any other year. ... The membership just wants to have a good fair — on behalf of Lyle."
Other organizers said they're hoping to channel their grief into putting together a strong event, one that would have made their former boss proud.
"You can mourn after Cumberland Fair is over with," said Carolyn Small, who runs the exhibition hall. "We've got to put it on, and he wouldn't have wanted it any other way."
Small spoke by phone, stepping away from the crowds of exhibitors bringing handicrafts and prepared foods Wednesday afternoon. She said she has hardly had time to process Merrifield's death, and she thinks about him in the moments between tasks.
"Quite honestly, we're all busy enough that we can keep distracted. It's the downtimes when you get thinking about it that are difficult — they really are difficult," she said.
Liz Tarantino, secretary of the fair, said there's hardly a moment that goes by without Merrifield crossing her mind. She catches herself thinking about calling Merrifield when logistical questions arise. The two of them had worked together since 2008, she said.
"Lyle and I should be talking to each other on the phone eight to 10 times a day if not more," Tarantino said. "It's just little things that come up."
She said Merrifield had a grand vision for the fair and its future. Beyond his past contributions, he left behind plans to build a new sportsman's building.
At a memorial service Sept. 15 — with a week to go before opening day — Merrifield's family requested that, in lieu of flowers, well-wishers donate money to support that project.
Hundreds of visitors — friends, fairgoers, farmers and maple sugar makers — joined Merrifield's family on the fairgrounds for the service.
Small said the crowd was a testament to how many lives Merrifield had touched, in his roles as fair president, farmer and head of the Maine Maple Producers Association.
"His two daughters got up and eulogized him, and it was amazing," Small said. "They kept up his legacy. He'd have been proud of his girls doing that job."
Googins said fair organizers plan to honor Merrifield again with a brief tribute during the opening day parade, as floats, livestock and members of the 4-H clubs he loved circle the racetrack.
"It's just acknowledging his passing and his contributions," Googins said. "Probably next year, there'll be a lot more detail to honor Lyle."
Before he died, Merrifield had been working on a structure to house the fair's newly acquired shingle mill. Nearly completed, Googins said the mill — nestled among the fair museum, sugarhouse and blacksmithing shop — should be operational by the time visitors arrive.
Googins said Merrifield had a particularly robust vision for the area around the museum, which he and others called the former president's "greatest passion" at the fair.
"His passion was in that area. And he just had a knack for improving issues that came up, as far as the infrastructure," Googins said. "He just raised the bar for everybody."
Bellefleur, Merrifield's daughter, said they plan to finish the mill building by using shingles produced on the machine itself.
"That was one of my dad's really big missions," she said. She said Merrifield emphasized using the tools, not just demonstrating them, noting that the farm's on-site lumber mill has prepared timber for previous projects.
"He really sat down methodically, thought about things ... always had big dreams and really always following through," she said. "My dad always taught us when you do something, you do it — and you give 110%."
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