GUILFORD — On Labor Day, Sept. 7, 1942, far from the horror of World War II, local farm families set aside time to catch up during a pause in the season between haying and cutting corn.
“It was also a chance to celebrate soldiers coming home from the service,” Harry Evans says.
Evans was 5 years old at the time of Guilford's first Old Home Day, which over the next 75 years would evolve into the Guilford Fair, an upbeat two-day festivity honoring the riches of rural life and the town's community spirit.
The fair celebrates the milestone on Sunday, Sept. 1, and Monday, Sept. 2, when neighbors and strangers will mingle at the Fairground on Weatherhead Hollow Road for the 75th year of festivities.
Evans's family hosted the annual gathering on their secluded back pasture until 1953.
“Most every farm had a team of horses, and the farmers drove them on the dirt roads across town to get here,” he says as he points out the slope where neighbors watched the horses drawing granite posts that had been loaded on a stone boat.
They fenced off an area of Broad Brook where borrowed ducks splashed about, delighting the children.
There were spontaneous games and exhibitions, but no blue ribbons. There were picnic favorites, soft drinks to purchase, and “adult beverages of choice.” Old Home Day ended with a dance at the Grange after evening milking.
Organizers plan 'low-key hoopla'
This year's fair will be marked with some “low-key hoopla,” according to Trustee Belinda Lashway - possibly a scavenger hunt around the Fairgrounds with clues and little prizes. Maybe a raffle where every 75 minutes someone wins a T-shirt or a pint glass or coffee mug bearing the Fair logo - four splendid draft horses with their driver.
Lashway joined the trustees in 2011, already a Fair veteran.
“On Sunday morning as kids, we'd be up at the crack of dawn to get our entries ready. One year I made a sundress. Another year, a last-minute cheesecake. Our winnings were Fair money.”
Scroll through the events on the website guilfordfairvermont.com, and imagine strolling around the Fairgrounds, or hailing a ride in a golf cart shuttle from the parking lot.
Past the ticket booth, live music welcomes you. To the left, equestrians display their skills. Years ago, Margaret Borkowski founded the horse show, following a tragic death in the family, to give her daughter, a passionate rider, a chance to compete among friends.
Up on the rise, visit barns full of beautiful livestock, hens to oxen. Ron Squires, the late state legislator, once described how, as a young 4-Her, he brushed his heifer's coat with Crisco so it would shine in the show.
At Fitch Hall, inspect the best of this year's harvest, flowers, vegetables, baled hay, and fancy work.
Quilts hang on sturdy dowels above sweaters, mittens, afghans, weavings, and sewing projects. Across from these are hobbies and handicrafts, collections, photography - even duct tape art. Peer through the windows to decipher who won blue ribbons.
Above Fitch Hall, climb to the game booths and carnival rides for the kids. Buy cotton candy, squintingly sweet, and wash it down with fresh lemonade.
The Guilford Free Library, Historical Society, Conservation Commission, and Guilford Cares will set up shady booths in front of Fitch Hall. Browse among their exhibits, chat, rehydrate, buy raffle tickets.
The Guilford Volunteer Fire Department offers a chicken barbecue starting at noon each day. The Guilford Community Church sells burgers and hot dogs. Broad Brook Grange members call Bingo for novices and devotees in a breezy shelter.
What's your pleasure? The sewing contest, classic cars, sheep shearing, or Circus Arts acrobats on a portable trapeze?
Join the volunteers who mount the Fair and earn a free ticket. You can help register entries at Fitch Hall on Saturday, Aug. 31 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., sell Fair tickets and T-shirts on Sunday and Monday, rake the horse and ox pull arena, staff the Farmer for a Day display or the ice cream contest, or help remove trash at the end of the day. Contact Brenda Lashway at [email protected].