WARDSBORO — All 154 homemade pies had sold by 11:45 a.m., announced Pastor Pete Carlson, the emcee at the 63rd annual Fourth of July celebration in downtown Wardsboro.
The parade and street fair is the oldest, and, some say, the most laid-back, Independence Day celebration in Windham County. A relaxed and cheerful after-the-parade crowd walked up and down Main Street, continuing to chatter with children and pets as they lined up for the barbecue specials and sweets, including those sold-out pies and bowls of strawberry shortcake.
Carlson, who presides over the so-called yoked parishes in Wardsboro, pastoring to the Methodists, Baptists and Congregationalists, directed the thinning crowds to the growing bargains that typify the end of such celebrations, including $1 bags of second-hand items.
Carlson said he thought the crowd size was similar to past celebrations, or maybe a little bigger this year.
Corinne Miller and Steve Emery, who live in Bedford, Mass., but summer in Wardsboro, brought their Leonberger dogs to the festivities.
The pair of cappuccino-colored, furry, St. Bernard-like dogs, Heather and David, were friendly and doggedly curious.
Meanwhile, one display included massive timber-frame beds made by Mark Hunter of Winhall, a cabinetmaker for the Wadsworth Company, a custom timber framing company in Jamaica.
The bed was crafted from reclaimed Douglas fir, according to Hunter, “which is a standing dead tree left in place after a forest fire.”
For the Fourth, the bed was reclaimed by a cheerful Springer Spaniel.