Published: September 11, 2008 08:33 am         

South Valley

By CAROL BRODIE

The last week of August into the first week of September was a busy one for us as we did the Fonda Fair in Montgomery County. Frank went down on Sunday, Aug. 24, to clean up his Pancake House. Then he, Dad, Mom and I spent the next day there as we set up the booth in Scott Hall and Frank also set up the Pancake House. My cousin, Curtis Rouse, helped us with unloading and setting up in Scott Hall. The fair officially opened on Tuesday morning, Aug. 26, and ended on Labor Day, Sept. 1. Then we went back on Tuesday and packed up everything to bring home and cleaned up the Pancake House. We had a beautiful week, weather-wise. It was sunny and warm, though the last couple of days did get rather hot and humid. It was a dry week, with the exception of a light rain toward evening on Friday.

Things were different in our section of Scott Hall this year as the Antiques booth, which had been beside us the past two years, was moved back into the Heritage Building. That building had been severely damaged with the June 2006 flood, so the Antiques had been temporarily moved to Scott Hall. We also missed our terrific neighbors, Cookie and Tom, as they’ve been running the Friendly Toy Party booth across the door from us the past few years. Friendly’s went out of business earlier this year, so we also missed our terrific Friendly neighbors, Lisa and Laura, at the Cobleskill Fair earlier in August. It was neat though that the four of them and their families at least came to visit us at the fairs this year.

At Fonda, in the former Friendly’s space, which was expanded into another booth or two, were some new vendors. In fact, this was the first fair they’d ever done. They were from the Vails Mills area and were selling sneakers, shirts, and sunglasses. Just past them were the three remaining booths for our side of the building, a booth offering a free trip or something (that booth was empty the first day or two), the Alliance for Life booth, and the Gideons, in their usual spot. Then of course, across from us all, taking up one side of the building, was the fruits and vegetables display, taken care of by Mike and Liz Montario.

The Cherry Valley Memorials moved in on Thursday to fill the large empty spot beside us by the end door. Their booth was manned by Mary “Kitty” Riznyk, along with her husband, Larry. The two of them also helped Frank in the Pancake House early in the mornings.

My dad celebrated his 84th birthday on Thursday, Aug. 28, and was surprised with three beautiful birthday cakes! Friend Millie Duesler brought him a cake as she does every year, and Bob and Lisa Harvey, who care for the baked goods and craft displays in the opposite end of the Pancake House, also brought him a lovely cake. Daughter Barb and Mick Kineke, who visited us at the fair on Wednesday, came with a beautiful cake as well.

With Dad and Frank in the Pancake House, Mom and I are, more or less, stuck in the Scott Hall booth all of the time, so we don’t get to “wander” around the fair. We are therefore grateful for the sweet people who do things for us without even being asked.

Like on Saturday, when they had the free ice cream sundae at the main gate, in walks Lisa Harvey with two sundaes, one for Mom and one for me! Not five minutes later, a very lovely lady, Maureen Phillips, whom I met at the fair many years ago, walks in the door with two more sundaes for us! It’s great to have such terrific friends watching out for us. Maureen felt bad, but I told her it was fine, we had a little refrigerator, so we just popped the extra sundaes in there for later.

Quite a few friends and acquaintances stopped by the booth to see us. Among them were Connie Meyers and Foster Salisbury, Mike and Cindy Zacharchuk and son, Andrew, Jane Hawkins and her brother, Mark, John and Dora Moore, Lucy Ann Card and daughter, Gabrielle, Tony Desmond, Les and Peg Chase, Jeremy and Malinda Brodie and children, Jerred and Jaidon, Steve and Amy Fancher, Kay Yerdon and Ernie, John and Donna Burr, Brian and Tonya Mc- Govern, John Snyder, Bob Scramlin and Roberta Healy, and Larry Roseboom. Laura Bailey and her twin grandsons, Trevor and Tyler, also stopped to visit us the first day of the fair. Then Laura and husband, Ron, were back again by themselves on the last day when we got to visit a bit longer and they shared pictures of grandchildren Aydan and Madison. Doug Graham, who went to school with my brother, Charley, also stopped by to see us one day.

This being the third fair we did this year, we found the attendance to be a lot lower than previous years at all three fairs. I know, that’s not what the papers have been reporting, but as a vendor who is there every day, from opening until closing time each day, that’s my opinion. The only exception was the first day of the Otsego County Fair, in Morris, when there was free admission at the gate.

Not only was there a record crowd that day, but the majority of the vendors did well with sales. I can’t begin to tell you how many fair-goers stopped by our booth at both the Cobleskill and Fonda Fairs to purchase and complain to us about the outlandish gate admission prices.

Many of them said they have no plans to attend the fair again. I know numerous other people who did not even attend the fairs this year due to the high cost. Then there are the ones who are very agitated in hearing that next year’s Cobleskill Fair plans to go to nine days and they say it sounds like it is, more or less, turning into a carnival instead of an agricultural fair. We’ve had people stopping by our booth the past few years wondering why the agricultural part of the fair seems to be disappearing little by little each year.