Fair History

The Nashua Country Fair featuring The Great American Cow Maneuver

You don't have to have a sense of humor to do a fund-raiser, but it sure helps.

     Humor and community building have been the hallmarks of the Nashua Country Fair and Great American Cow Maneuver, which heads into its twentieth year on September 27, 2008 behind Holman Stadium.

     The fund-raiser, which is sponsored by the Nashua Catholic Schools (Infant Jesus, St. Christopher and Nashua Catholic Regional Junior High) involves "cows on a field doing what cows do and somebody being lucky that they do it on their plot," according to Irene Lackner, who has been a committee member since the first fair
in 1989.

     At that point, a committee was formed to find a way to raise money to repay a loan to the Diocese of Manchester. The diocesan superintendent of education at that time had heard of a unique fund-raiser in another part of the the country in which deeds were sold to purchase small plots

on a field. Cows were led onto the field, allowed to do what comes naturally, and the "owner" of the "plot" of land on which the cow performed her "maneuver" would win a cash prize.

     "Everyone laughed," says Sandy Hillyard, the 1991 chairperson. "Then we decide to do it."

     A mere six weeks later, the city of Nashua experienced its first Cow Maneuver. Since that time the Maneuver has undergone many changes, both in locale and the accompanying events. The Maneuver and Fair in 1996 included entertainment, food, a lively midway, haunted house and craft fair.

     As the fair has grown, so has the revenue generated for the three schools, with proceeds from last year totaling $45,000. But perhaps the biggest benefit has been intangible - a greater sense of community and fun for school families.
--Anne Thomasmeyer, Nashua Country Fair Volunteer