Town rallies to uphold tradition
30th Apple Country Fair to be celebrated Oct. 11

BROOKFIELD, Mass. -- If there's something to be said for New Englanders, they sure like their traditions. When tired volunteers announced they were calling it quits at the 29th Annual Apple Country Fair last October, disappointed fairgoers and local residents rallied. They called a community meeting, brainstormed ideas, committed resources, and the fair was revived.

Thanks to the tenacious spirit of longtime volunteers and an infusion of new community interest, the 30th Anniversary Apple Country Fair will take place 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 11, 2008 on the Brookfield Town Common. The quintessential country fair celebrates autumn in New England with locally-produced foods and crafts, homemade gifts and wares, raffles featuring a community-made quilt, live music, children's games, and—of course—apple pie!

"I didn't want to see it end," said Lois O'Leary, one of the fair's founders and a charter member of its sponsoring organization, the Brookfield Community Club. "For more than half my life, I've been doing this fair. It's a fun day for Brookfield, and it's become part of the community's identity."

The Brookfield Community Club, which began as a group of young moms who combined neighborly fun with fundraising for school activities, dreamed up the Apple Country Fair in 1979. For years, the money raised at the Apple Country Fair has paid for the Brookfield Elementary School's sixth grade class to attend a environmental program at Camp Bournedale on Cape Cod. It has also generated grant money for a number of community service projects, from the town's monthly newsletter, The Brookfield Citizen, to holiday programs for Brookfield seniors.

The Apple Country Fair features 70 local craftspeople and vendors, offering items from hand-knit apparel to seasonal decor to gift baskets and honey. New this year, the fair will feature an area for select home party consultants to show and sell their products. Also new, the Brookfield Community Club has enlisted the North Bhrookfield Masons guild to provide the foodservice for the fair. The fair is held rain or shine. Should storms threaten, the fair will set up inside Brookfield Elementary School, 37 Central St.

The community quilt is one Apple Country Fair tradition that has stuck. In a modern-day version of a quilting bee, dozens of Brookfield residents collaborate each year to design and stitch a quilt that is raffled off at the Fair. This spring, scraps of fabric and stray bobbins co-mingled with stacks of books and periodicals at Brookfield's Merrick Public Library, where anyone could drop in and give the sewing machine a whirl. The quilt, which follows a traditional design in autumn colors of brown, cranberry, gold and green, was completed at the end of May. "Rapple" tickets are $2 each or three for $5 and available at multiple sites around the Common on the day of the fair.

Another fair favorite, the apple pie contest challenges bakers of all ages and experience to submit their tasty pastries for judging. For the panel of judges, it's a grueling (drooling?) task, but they dutifully slice and sample each pie before declaring this apple season's winner.

Crafts and games for children, live music throughout the day, and chance encounters with neighbors and friends make the fair a must-attend event for all ages.

In 1987, the Brookfield Community Club commissioned renowned folk artist Jacob Knight, who lived in neighboring West Brookfield, to paint a portrait of the town on fair day. For two years, he attended the Apple Country Fair, meeting townsfolk and collecting ideas on landmarks, legends and personalities to include in the painting. The work captures the spirit of the fair--the friendliness, unpretentiousness, good feelings and fun. The work was presented to the town in 1989 and hangs in the Brookfield Town Hall. Prints of the work are still available at Town Hall for $20, matted prints for $30, and matted and mounted for $40.

In recent years, a string of foul weather fairs dampened the moods of fairgoers and volunteers and hampered fundraising efforts. Waning participation led fair organizers to announce last year that the 29th Apple Country Fair would be the last. As luck would have it, the 29th fair fell on a gorgeous Indian Summer day. The crowds milling about the Common expressed surprise and disappointment at the announcement. The outpouring of support for the fair prompted some Brookfield Community Club members, such as stalwart volunteer Philip Peirce, to give the fair another year.

"I can't tell you how pleased I am with the response from so many people," said Peirce. "It restores my faith and belief in this community that I love."

A number of new community groups and residents have stepped forward to help make the 30th Anniversary Apple Country Fair possible. Brookfield's Friends of the Library facilitated the quilt-making, publicity efforts and children's games. Members of the town's Recreation Committee have pledged their time to volunteer the day of the fair. But volunteers are still needed.

Folks who wanted the Apple Country Fair tradition to carry on now have an opportunity to help it succeed. The fair needs volunteers in a number of areas, including set-up and breakdown, go-fers throughout the day, and bakers to contribute to the bake sale. To donate your time and talents, please visit www.applecountryfair.com or call 508-867-9553.

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