CORNISH — Ruth Ferland carefully poured a jug of maple syrup into tiny containers lined up on a lunch tray in a red booth at the Cornish Fairgrounds.

After the row was finished, she placed a lid on each one and put the tray aside. Next, she began slicing English muffins for the breakfast sandwiches she’d begin preparing at 5 a.m. on Friday for the annual Cornish Fair, which is scheduled to take place Friday through Sunday. Admission is $15 for people ages 13 and above; and free for children 12 and under. Ride bracelets costs $30 per four-hour session. A three-day pass is available for $40. It is open from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday; and 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday. The Midway opens at 10 a.m. each day.

“This is my week of vacation,” Ferland said. While that’s true in the literal sense — the Cornish resident is a nurse at Mt. Ascutney Hospital and Health Center in Windsor — it’s also a nod to how much she enjoys the days of preparation leading up the fair — and then, the fair itself.

Beginning Friday, Ferland will be part of a team of roughly half a dozen volunteers who will cook a free breakfast for around 100 4-H participants. They’ll make another 200 breakfasts to sell from 6 to 10 a.m.— including French toast, pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage and toast – on the fairgrounds. Over the course of three days, they’ll go through 75 dozen eggs, 50 pounds of bacon, 30 pounds of sausage and at least 25 dozen English muffins, Ferland said.

“Feeding the kids is the best part. From little munchkins … I watch them grow up and grow through,” Ferland said during an interview at the fairgrounds where she has volunteered for at least 35 years. “Now, some of their kids are participating. It’s wonderful to see it coming full cycle.”

From her spot in the booth, Ferland gets a good view of the Midway where she can see people’s faces light up as they take in the rides.

“It just makes it all worth it,” she said.

Across from where Ferland was preparing breakfast, Pomfret resident Ashton Perkins, 15, was helping settle in the Hartland Cattle Club’s dozen Jersey cows. It’s his third year at the Cornish Fair.

“You can meet a lot of people and it’s fun,” Ashton said as he took a break from moving stacks of hay to the barn where the cows would spend the next three days. “You get to stay up late and sleep here.”

Ashton, dozens of other 4-H members and their families camp out at the fairgrounds during the fair. Ashton said he liked meeting participants in other 4-H clubs — and showing fair attendees what 4-H clubs do.

“I feel like a lot of people just don’t know how much work goes into it,” Ashton said.

The fair’s support of kids like Ashton is a point of pride for many involved with the Cornish Fair, including Jan Lord, who has volunteered since 1994.

“This fair gives a lot of priority and attention to 4-H and agriculture in general,” Lord said as she put plastic eggs in baskets as part of a display in the speakers booth, where volunteers sell fair apparel (new this year: women’s polo shirts and fleece vests for adults) and make announcements.

Lord was joined by Linda Leone, who spent Thursday wiping down the inside of the booth with an old T-shirt and clearing wasp nests.

“You don’t know what you’re going to find when you open the doors,” she said, noting that the booth had been closed for a year.

Leone has volunteered at the fair for three years and likes the speakers booth, in part, because it gives her a view of a canopy where 4-H participants show livestock.

“Watching the 4-H kids — that is so cool,” she said.

Cornish Fair Association president Wayne Gray said that last year around 20,000 people attended the fair. He and others were keeping an eye on the weather for rain. As of Thursday afternoon, the forecast predicted partly cloudy skies for Friday and Saturday and scattered showers on Sunday.

“The thing we like the best is bringing all the people together and helping the community,” Gray said, noting that the association is a nonprofit organization and the money it raises goes toward supporting the next year’s fair.

Gray spent hours getting the fairgrounds ready for most of the week leading up to Friday’s opening day. He checked waterlines and helped clean out barns, among other tasks. Often, he was joined by his six-year-old grandson Jaylen Gray.

“He doesn’t care if he plays plumber, moves stuff,” Gray said about Jaylen.

When asked what his favorite part of the Cornish Fair is, Jaylen replied “everything.” That answer held true for his favorite ride and animal. He said his favorite food was “everything — not corn.”

Jaylen’s advice for those attending the fair was to “just have fun and enjoy everything.”

“It’s a lot of work we do, but it’s worth it, (right) Jaylen?” his grandfather asked him.

“It is,” Jaylen replied.

For more information about the Cornish Fair, visit https://www.cornishfair.org. Liz Sauchelli can be reached at esauchelli@vnews.com or 603-727-3221.