Hundreds of people at the Fryeburg Fair attended a special event Wednesday, likely the only one of its kind in the fair’s 172-year history.
They witnessed the wedding of Jim Grover, fairgoer since 1971, and his longtime fiancée Kim Shuckerow.
“It was perfect,” Shuckerow said Thursday. “Absolutely perfect.”
The ceremony took place in the pulling ring where Grover competes with his Belgian draft horses. He entered the ring with his steeds, while Shuckerow rode in on a golf cart.
The couple from Connecticut — he’s 77 and she’s 66 — has been coming to the fair since they met 18 years ago. They always knew they’d get married and decided this was the year to make it official at the fair.
“The people here are like family,” she said.
For Rachel Andrews Damon, who has officiated more than 100 weddings, the ceremony at the fair tops her list for most unusual.
“It’s the best unusual one,” said Damon, the fair’s head of publicity and advertising. “It’s also the one where I’ve had the biggest audience. It doesn’t beat a pulling ring.”
Damon said she and pulling ring announcer Stacy McConkey worked together to make Grover and Shuckerow’s day special. They decorated with fall flowers, including sunflowers. Many fellow horse pullers lined the outside of the ring in addition to hundreds of well-wishers gathered in the stands.
After the ceremony was over, the couple rode off in the golf cart with a “Just Married” sign on the back, with two work boots dangling behind.
Shuckerow said their honeymoon will be spent at the fair, then it will be time to head back to Connecticut where they run a trucking business.
Damon said although many couples have used the fairgrounds for their weddings in the off-season, the Grover/Shuckerow union is believed to be the first to take place during the fair.
And based on the reaction on Facebook, it’s not only unusual, but popular.
“The general public seems to be very into weddings,” Damon said.
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