| |
SEPTEMBER 8, 2010 -- On Saturday, August 28, members of the community gathered at the local Grange Hall to see a showcase of the skills and efforts of Litchfield’s best bakers, gardeners and crafters.
From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., people were able to visit the hall, located at 435 Bantam Road, to peruse a number of displays, take part in a raffle and treat themselves to the baked goods and hot dogs that were available for sale.
According to Janet Healy, the secretary and treasurer of Litchfield Grange, this fair is quite unlike the big state and county fairs that people attend during the summers. “We keep ours pretty much country,” she said. “It’s kind of like backyard farming. We’re not commercial at all, it’s just people who grow things or make things.
Displays were organized into seven different categories – vegetables, fruits, needlework, crafts and collections, pastry, flowers and canned goods. The crafts and collections category is divided further into an adult category and a junior category for participants 12 and under. The pastry category includes a special apple pie competition.
In each category, the submissions are judged and ribbons are given to items deemed superior. A blue ribbon is accompanied by a $2 prize, a red ribbon comes with $1.50 and yellow-ribbon winners take home $1. Additionally, the best submission in each category is named Best in Show, and the honor comes with a $5 prize and a special ribbon. This year, the Best in Show winner in the vegetable/fruit category was Rachel Bourquin. Harriett Hart took Best in Show for her submission in the flower category. Carol Osterman had the Best in Show submission in the needlework category. In the crafts and collections category, Barbara Rivers took Best in Show honors for the adult division and Madison Rubino received the honor in the junior division. Stephanie Gillotti’s submission earned her Best in Show in the canned goods category.
In the pastry category, Pamela Swendsen took Best in Show for both the pastry category and the apple pie contest. Because of these winning submissions, Swendsen will be moving on to state competitions representing Litchfield Grange.
According to Healy, the displays had about 30 entries.
“Just about everybody wins,” Healy said, adding that some of her submissions in the flower and baked good categories earned her honors.
“And my husband won a whole bunch of stuff in the vegetables (category),” said Healy of her husband, Richard, the Grange’s president.
Those without green thumbs or crafty hands weren’t entirely left out of the prize-winning fun. Fair visitors were invited to take part in a raffle, which offered a number of prizes. The first prize was a quilt. The second- and third-prize winners both received $50 gas cards. The fourth prize was a food basket, and the fifth prize was a tool kit, in addition to other prizes.
Though the fair may seem like a small affair, Healy said that much planning and effort goes into putting on a successful fair.
“It takes a lot of work,” she said. “It doesn’t sound like it is, but it is.”
She said that from securing permits for the hot dog stand and raffle, to making up an informative booklet about submissions and writing up tickets for each entry in the fair, to writing out checks for the many winners in each category, those involved in putting on the fair have many tasks to complete to make the fair a success. Healy said that the planning process for the late August event began back in June.
The Litchfield Grange’s membership is between 35 and 40, Healy said. Local Granges are part of a larger national organization called the National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry, which was founded in the mid 1800s as an agricultural organization.
“Originally, the Grange was an agricultural society,” Healy said.
Healy said that agriculture is a big part of what the organization does, but they are involved in other ways in the community.
“We also do social services, and try to do things for people in the community. We send kids to camp, we give a stipend to help a local graduate, and sometimes other things that come up,” she said. She added that the group also honors a citizen of the year each year.
For more information on the Grange and its activities, visit http://www.ctstategrange.com/subgrangepage.asp?GrangeID=217. |
