Jessica Flaherty, who has tamed a wild horse, will display her skills next week in Cumberland.

The upcoming 144th annual Cumberland County Fair, packed with a rodeo, horse racing and a variety of entertainment, is a fall agricultural classic that will also showcase the skills of 4-H kids and Grange gardeners.

This year’s edition, which starts Sunday, Sept. 27, and runs through Oct. 3 at the Cumberland Fairgrounds at the intersection of Blanchard and Bruce Hill roads in Cumberland, features a Scarborough teenager who will demonstrate the equestrian talent she used in taming a mustang yearling that was still wild in April.

Opening day salutes veterans with free admission, and Gov. Paul LePage and his wife, Ann, will both speak. Midway features will include amusement rides, fair victuals and vendor booths.

“My goal is 10,000 people on Sunday,” said Mike Timmons, president of the Cumberland Farmers Club, which sponsors the fair.

Jessica Flaherty, 15, a Scarborough High School sophomore, and her mustang, “Meet Me in Montana,” will perform four times at the fair, including a performance for veterans at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday in front of the grandstand.

Flaherty is a member of the Wild Mane 4-H Club in Scarborough.

“She’ll show them what her horse can do,” Timmons said.

The mustang’s stable name is Mae.

“She (Jessica) picked up Mae, an untouched, unnamed wild yearling on April 10 and won the Northeast Extreme Mustang Youth Makeover Challenge on Aug. 9,” said Cynthia Flaherty, Jessica’s sister and 4-H leader.

“Mae is originally from Nebraska and was shipped to Massachusetts with 60 other wild mustangs in April for pickup,” she said.

At the fair, Jessica Flaherty and her mustang will demonstrate their winning performance at the challenge in Massachusetts.

“We will be performing our winning freestyle and advocating for the mustang breed,” Jessica Flaherty said Monday. “Mae does a variety of obstacles and tricks, including a balance beam, teeter totter, laying down, sitting, Spanish walking, jumping and more.”

Cynthia Flaherty said about 15 of her 4-H students would also exhibit rope horse halters in the 4-H hall that they created as projects.

Exhibiting at the fair culminates a year of hard work. Showing their handiwork raising and training steers, members of the Red & White Faces Baby Beef Club in Gorham are grooming their animals for shows.

“They’re doing final preparations,” their adult leader, Jenn Grant, said. “They’ve worked hard all year.”

In Windham, Sara Conant, leader of the Paws’n Pals 4-H group, said eight of her club members are readying their dogs for a show at the fair on Friday, Oct. 2, in the 4-H arena.

“They’re all preparing,” Conant said.

In the fair’s Exhibition Hall, the Highland Lake Grange of Westbrook will look to repeat its blue ribbon-winning exhibit last year. The Grange booth, organized by Kathy Gowen and Debbie Ivers, will feature garden produce, handcrafts, paintings and clothing.

David Gowen, master of Highland Lake Grange, said the Grange has been planning its exhibit for six months.

“We’ve won a blue ribbon every year for decades,” Gowen said.

On Veterans Appreciation Day, held Sunday, Sept. 27, the National Guard opens the program with presentation of the colors at 10:45 a.m. Ann LePage will speak at 11:20 a.m. and the governor at 1 p.m. The program, which includes a former Navy SEAL with more than 100 combat missions, will feature a raffle to benefit Beal’s Hospitality House at the VA Maine Healthcare System in Togus, Timmons said.

Maine American Legion State Commander Ron Reinfrette and LePage will present a Legislator of the Year award at 1:15 p.m. Maine legislators have been invited to attend. Sunday’s program features a $10,000 horse race, after which the assembled Maine Senate and House members will be recognized.

For harness fans, racing programs continue daily throughout the week. In special events, Maine racing legends including Don Richards, Freeman Parker, Kevin Switzer Sr. and Gorham horse owner Mike Andrew will flank LePage when he speaks.

State Sen. Bill Diamond of Windham and WLOB radio personality Ray Richardson of Westbrook will assist with commentary for races that pit harness drivers against their sons.

Racing fans will have the opportunity to see Montrell Teague, a nationally recognized harness driver who visits the fair on Sunday.

“We’re going to get him some drives,” Timmons said.

The opening day also includes a demolition derby at 6:30 p.m. in front of the grandstand.

In a returning event, pig racing is a feature in the show area. History buffs can visit the farm museum with vintage implements in a barn on the backstretch.

Farm animals on display include rabbits, oxen, sheep and dairy cows. A professional rodeo includes bull riding.

A slate of entertainment on the main stage in front of the exhibition hall includes Alex Lear at noon on Monday; Bob Charest Band at 6 p.m. Monday; Larry Williams Band at 7 p.m. Tuesday; Mad Science at 1 p.m. Wednesday; Don Campbell at noon Sunday and 7:30 p.m. Wednesday; Tricky Britches at 6:30 p.m. Thursday; Debbie Meyers at 5 p.m. Friday; Mark Gentle at 10:30 a.m. Saturday; and Brian Wardwell at 1 p.m. Saturday.

Fireworks cap the fair at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 3, though harness racing continues on Sunday, Oct. 4.

Timmons is optimistic and keeping a keen eye on weather forecasts.

“It’s going to be wonderful,” Timmons predicted.

Jessica Flaherty, a Scarborough High School sophomore, and the wild mustang she tamed this year will perform at the annual Cumberland County Fair, which opens Sunday, Sept. 27.Courtesy photo