TOPSFIELD FAIR CELEBRATES 100 YEARS OF 4-H CLUBS

From: The Boston Globe | Date: October 6, 2002| Author: Kathy McCabe, Globe Staff Correspondent | Copyright information

TOPSFIELD - Of the hundreds of exhibitors at the Topsfield Fair, 4- H clubs from Essex County just might have the most heart.

Sure, there are the annual horse, goat, and rabbit shows, but the 4-H building this year is also filled with a hand-carved wooden gumball machine, a 3-foot-high papier-mache cactus, and prize- winning photographs. And there are the winners of a club contest to grow the sweetest tomatoes or biggest chrysanthemum.

"The kids get excited every year about the f...