WEEDSPORT - By the time you read this, the Hurricane will be twirling, the Meridian Fire Department cooking and the sheep showers shearing at the Cayuga County Fairgrounds.

The only sights to see on a cloudy Wednesday morning were organizers scrambling and vendors unloading.

“The grounds aren't open to the public yet, but today is our buzz day,” County Fair Director John Lester said. “The more they set up today, the less we have to do tomorrow morning.”

The first fair events began at 8 a.m. today with the decorated hay bale contest. It concludes at 10 p.m. Sunday with fireworks.

Because many of the fair's 19 volunteers work full-time jobs - Lester himself is manager at the Tractor Supply Co. in Auburn - most of the fairgrounds don't start looking that way until the week before opening.

“Some of the rides pulled in at midnight,” Lester said. “It's round the clock from now until opening.”

A tired crew from Playland Amusements was taking advantage of a break in the otherwise steady drizzle to assemble the first of 13 rides. The fleet of older Ford diesels rolled in during the wee hours after a one-day engagement at a Polish festival in Geneva Tuesday night.

“We've got to get it done today,” said a man who identified himself as Jim. “Once you get the biggest one up, the rest are nothing.

“After you get the bigger stuff done, you can split up into smaller groups on the kiddie rides and stuff,” he said.

Curtis Hawkins has been working the fair circuit for about six years now. Playland covers events throughout upstate New York all summer long.

“It's not for the money, mainly for the thrill,” he said while lending a hand on the Hurricane.

Meridian volunteer firefighters were setting up for what they plan to be a four-day fundraiser. Just as they began attempting assembling of the canopy for their chicken barbecue, a truck rolled in hauling a modified canoe for cookouts.

“I've got another one just like it at home,” fire department President Robert Perrotta Sr. said proudly.

Elsewhere fair board of directors Vice President Brandy Fiocco was busy putting the finishing touches on another attraction, the stage constructed for this year's entertainment. When the fair returned after a hiatus last year, performers used the bed of a couple flatbeds for the shows.

“This is our dressing room - which we still need to put a door on,” Fiocco said while touring the nearly complete backstage area.

There's always plenty to do on the day before opening, but Fiocco said she wouldn't have it any other way.

“It's a lot, but it's a couple weeks of a lot,” she said while adding a white coat of paint to a stage rail. “This is my hobby. I love it.”

The alpaca and sheep farmers on the other side of the grounds would agree.

“There's so many families in the alpaca industry, so it's great to have all these things for the kids to do at the fair,” said Riverside Alpaca co-owner Chris Gilman amid the blast of a mallet hammering a stake.

The fair added a show to the 87-animal alpaca pen this year.

“We can only go up from here,” said Gilman, a Jordan resident and alpaca show coordinator.

Just across the way, the Stumbos were getting their sheep situated for the upcoming shows. Many will need a wash or a trim before they compete.

“It's just something we like to do,” Kathy Stumbo said. “It's the people, the other vendors we like to see.”

The couple would have to return to Down Valley Farms in Honeoye Wednesday night to retrieve several items, including their display signs.

“The first fair is the worst,” said Keith Stumbo. “You've got to gather all the equipment from last year and it's all over the farm.”

In other words, they might be going back a few more times before the fair is over.

Staff writer Shane Liebler can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 248 or shane.liebler@lee.net