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SEPTEMBER 23, 2010 -- A record high volume of vendors and visitors attended the 37th annual New Hartford Day event on Sunday, Sept. 19 at Brodie Park.
“There were a record number of vendors and more food than ever and it’s a fabulous time,” co-organizer Sally O’Neill said.
Co-organizer Mary Lee Dunn said that there were 65 venders this year. Over 1,000 people had visited the fair, as of 1 p.m., and the event did not close until 4 p.m. She said that the event is almost like a reunion.
“It’s like a big block party,” Dunn said. “The school year’s started. People come up and catch up on what’s going on. I think this is the [real] beginning of the year.”
The event was founded in the 1970s to celebrate the bicentennial of the United States of America. Agricul-ture has since become a focal point of the event, which the Eureka Grange, a community service-minded non-profit organization in the Nepaug region of town, has become instrumental in organizing.
“The Grange has been a focal point for a long time,” Earl Phillips, Eureka Grange president, said.
New Hartford Day is one of the larger events the Grange is involved in. Later in the year, the non-profit, which is always accepting new members 14 years old and up, will hold potluck suppers the second meeting of every month, a pig roast in the fall and sell grinders on Superbowl Sunday.
Members from the Grange and the public baked bread, cakes, pastries, apple squares, and other desserts and entered fruits and herbs, painted pumpkins for a contest and vegetables were judged by agricultural experts. The Eureka Grange tent also displayed floral arrangements, sewing and crafts.
Businesses, individual vendors, libraries, churches, the local fire departments, the Boy Scouts, the American Legion and other town organizations set up stands — some informational and others selling crafts or food, including apple fritters, shaved ice, meatballs, apple pie, baked goods and jams to name a few. O’Neill said that line at the shaved ice stand is long from 10 a.m. to its 4 p.m. close.
There were more small business owners participating in New Hartford Day than usual, Dawn Whalen, president of the New Hartford Business Council, said.
“It gets people out. It’s the first year I’ve seen so many businesses here,” Whalen said. “That is saying something. People are understanding that it’s important to get out in front of the community and promote themselves.”
Horse-drawn carriage rides left periodically from the entrance to the fair by the Berkshire Hall, traveling across Brodie Park and around West Hill Lake.
“They’re a big hit. They were only here for two minutes and already had a packed wagon,” O’Neill said.
The Chapparals Band, which specializes in country, blues and roack played on the porch of the Berkshire Hall.
“[The music] appeals to everybody,” O’Neill said.
Parents can bring their children without being concerned for their safety if they run off on their own, Dunn said.
“We try to keep it as small town as we can,” O’Neill said.
Children threw softballs at a target at a dunk tank station, played on the playground, walked a rope course in some of the camp buildings and pet alpacas, as well as a local goats, pony, rabbits and other farm animals. There were also karate demonstrations, scarecrow races and tours of the Brodie Park Field House, which the town and the Friends of Brodie Park are hoping to renovate.
“It’s a small town, so you see a lot of people you know,” Lewis Chappel, Friends of Brodie Park president, said.
U.S. Congressional candidate Ann Brickley was impressed with the small town friendly atmosphere when she visited the fair on her campaign route. Mark Boughton, Lieutenant Governor candidate, and Jerry Farrell Jr., Secretary of State candidate, also visited the fair.
“The people in New Hartford are welcoming and friendly,” Brickley said. “The music is nice. I met a lot of friendly people. It’s nice meeting people in the community and seeing the public service they do.”
Brickley said she is in the process of trying to organize a debate with her competition, Congressman John Larson in New Hartford as one of five potential debates her campaign plans to schedule in the first district.
Although this year’s event is over, O’Neill and Dunn already have started brainstorming for next year’s event and will officially start organizing next September’s event in May of 2011. |
