Sitting at a long table in the basement of the Congregational Church, the last meeting of the planning committee for the New Ipswich Children’s Fair starts with a prayer.
Pastor Ken Whitson, bearded and wearing overalls, prays for guidance as the church prepares to “invite a huge part of the community to come visit us.”
Indeed, the Children’s Fair, held annually every August, is one of the church’s – and the town’s – biggest draws, attracting hundreds of people, both children and adults, for an auction and book sale, chicken barbeque, large children’s area with booth games, petting zoo and pony and hay rides.
For Linda Kivela, who co-chairs the planning committee, it is all but a family tradition not only to attend the fair, but to sit at the table to do the extensive planning to make it happen.
“I grew up in the fair,” Kivela said.
Her parents were on the committee before her and she grew up a ready volunteer, she said. As an adult, her husband chaired the fair for years, and for the past decade, she’s taken on the role. She has also kept up the tradition of recruiting her children to volunteer as well.
“It could be called the ‘Kivela Fair,’” joked Kivela’s co-chair, Chris Bergeron.
In fact, said the pair, it’s very common for volunteers to be perpetual returnees. With “only” seven years on the committee under her belt, Bergeron, a transplant to New Ipswich who didn’t grow up with the fair, considers herself a relative newcomer.
In some ways, this creates a deep well of regular volunteers and institutional knowledge of who to call – some booths have such a long history that it’s just assumed that the same people as always will be returning.
While Kivela grew up with the festivities, Bergeron’s first experience with the fair was as an adult, when she first moved to New Ipswich and went to the fair’s White Elephant sale.
“I remember going into the Old Town Hall and seeing all that stuff. I love yard sales, and this was like the yard sale to end all yard sales,” she said.
But she didn’t come back to the fair until many years later, when she joined the Congregational Church, and was asked to take charge of the White Elephant.
“Once you start, you’re in,” she said. “And it becomes the best thing you ever did. Sometimes, it’s the hardest thing you ever did, too.”
Set up and break down are some of the most involved parts, Bergeron said. Set up takes several days, and the day after the fair, church services are held under the auction tent, before the breakdown begins. In true community style, those that help are rewarded with a lunch made up with leftovers from the food stalls at the fair – even if that’s just egg salad sandwiches from the sandwich shop.
The group starts planning for that single day as early as March, and the process doesn’t end until September. That’s when the totals are tallied and the planning committee meets one last time for the year to discuss what to do with the profits – about three-quarters of which will be donated to local groups that are affiliated with children or individuals in need.
“I think a lot of people don’t know that,” said Bergeron. “They don’t know that we’re here.”
Fair proceeds have gone over the years to youth groups, the local robotics program, Little League and other sports, choirs, the town pool, Legos for the Greenville library and sometimes for something as small as a car seat for a local family.
Last year, the fair raised a total of $18,000, most of which was donated back to the community and the rest reserved as seed money for this year’s fair.
That is why they do it, Kivela said. That and hearing stories such as a woman who had recently moved to New Ipswich driving by the fair with her kids in the car. Despite only having about $10 in her pocket, her kids begged her to stop. She eventually agreed, and was surprised that the kids were able to enjoy almost every aspect of the fair for the little money she had on her.
“That was her first real experience in New Ipswich,” Kivela said.
“You can see God’s hand in every aspect,” Bergeron said. “The weather, the volunteers, how it all comes together. Just to stand and watch everyone on the day of the fair is awesome.”
The Children’s Fair is held this year on Aug. 18 at the Congregational Church in New Ipswich from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.