SKOWHEGAN -- Someone wearing a black ski mask, black gloves and aviator-styled sun glasses robbed a gate keeper at gunpoint Friday night at the Skowhegan State Fair, police said Monday.

The armed robbery happened at Gate 4, the livestock gate on Russell Road, one of the least traveled entrances at the fair, deputy Skowhegan police chief Rick Bonneau said.

The masked gunman escaped on foot, south on Russell Road, with an undisclosed sum.

The robbery was reported at 10:41 p.m. Friday.

Bonneau said the robber is 5 foot 8 inches to 6 feet tall, of medium or slender build. The weapon was said to be a handgun, Bonneau said.

"We can only assume there was a vehicle waiting, which is typically the case," he said. "There's not a whole lot to go on right now, they have received some leads, but nothing we're able to solidify at this point."

The robbery at the fair comes less than a month after an armed robbery at a credit union on Main Street, Madison. Armed robbers got away with an undisclosed amount of cash from the Franklin Somerset Federal Credit Union on July 23.

Bonneau said he has never heard of a robbery at any of the gates of the Skowhegan fair, which ended Sunday.

"Times have changed a lot, as far as the culture that we live in," he said. "People are looking for the quick dollar to support their habits, if you will, if in fact that's what it's about.

"Any time you have anybody brandishing a weapon and committing a robbery, no matter what the setting is, it's unsettling. It certainly gets put onto the front burner, priority-wise."

Doug Harlow -- 474-9534 ext. 342

dharlow@centralmaine.com