The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Bragging rights in a bumper-crop year
Durham Fair exhibitors are looking for prestige, not prizes
DURHAM — Ron Parzyk of Stratford is waist deep in pears this season — buckets and buckets of pears from a single flourishing fruit tree.
“Nothing bothers them as far as bugs go,” said Parzyk, 55, who has been exhibiting his veggies and fruits at the Durham Fair for a quarter-century.
In fact, his bushels have runneth over in such numbers that he’s been offering them to a neighbor who he helps turn them into wine. Parzyk has been turning the tree fruits into pear sauce for the last few years in an effort to keep up with the abundant harvest falling from his 40-foot tree.
“They’re dropping all over the place,” he said.
Preparations have been
under way since last year’s Durham Fair wrapped up. The fair’s 99th year runs Sept. 27 to 30.
“I’m going to knock their socks off,” he said of his pear sauce entry.
After a year’s hiatus from competing, he’s raring to go.
“I didn’t enter last year because I had a new job. It’s a lot of work that starts in the spring. I’m going to come back strong,” Parzyk said.
The deadline for entries runs from early to midSeptember.
Parzyk is the proud recipient of the “pinnacle award,” given for best in canning in memory of lifelong Durham resident Alice Coe Gastler, who died in 2000.
It includes a special ribbon and plaque with the winner’s name permanently displayed in the court of honor. The Gastler award carries one of the fair’s most generous winnings: $50.
“I had green beans all stacked up like soldiers. They were perfect. Each one was lined up in the jar, and I canned it perfectly,” Parzyk said of his winning entry.
The monetary awards may be nominal — but a majority of the more than 1,000 contestants who’ve entered their produce, flowers, collections, livestock and other items in 26 categories do it for the bragging rights.
In 2017, the Durham Fair awarded $105,333 in cash prizes and $15,738 in trophies and ribbons.
Diane Coe, superintendent of exhibit management, has been in her role for eight years. Over the last 12 years, she said, interest in showing off prized possessions has continued to grow.
Last year, the number of entries were up by slightly less than 10 percent, she said.
“A big part of this is due to the incredible job the superintendents of each department do. Every year, they take the time to do an analysis of their classes, revamp some, delete some, and add on new ones to continually keep things new and exciting. Having all of our information available online and being able to enter online has proven to be extremely successful for us as well,” Coe said.
“Every year, I am in awe of the creativity in the youth department, especially the decorated pumpkins and Legos. The decorated pumpkins in the vegetable department are also amazing,” Coe said.
Coe has garnered a few ribbons herself for photography, canning and vegetables.
“One of the things that moves me most in my position is seeing the pride and feeling of accomplishment our exhibitors show and express when they bring their entries in, young and old,” she said.
This year, the fair expanded its age groups for entries in the competitions, creating a new “Fairy Tales” category for ages 3 to 5.
Last year, a preschool in Meriden entered pumpkins decorated by 4-yearolds, said Debbie Huscher, who is in charge of publicity. She was a guest on a WFSB segment in 2017 featuring the brightly painted gourds.
Last year, the fair’s oldest exhibitor was Phyllis Rau, 104, who died July 29. The former Durham resident entered her paintings in the competition, Coe said.
MaryLou Shoemaker, superintendent of the Durham Fair Art Department, is herself a crafter and creator of Kotex Kreations. She has shown her unusual art made with an equally unusual medium: feminine hygiene products. Her flower arrangements and aquarium pieces are made from tampons, tampon containers, strings and pads.
New this year is a contest based on Kindness Rock projects, Shoemaker said.
“We have created random art with inspirational messages to cultivate compassion,” she said. “Folks will find rocks that say, ‘Smile’ or ‘You Are Loved,’ take a selfie with the rock, and then upload it to our Durham Fair Art Rocks! contest to win prizes. They will then re-hide the rocks for others to find. In this way, we hope to engage even the youngest fairgoers to connect with others through art.”
Meanwhile, Parzyk is dealing with an overabundance of crops — a cucumber plant strung up to a 9-foot-tall support has produced so many cukes, they’re coming out of his ears, he said.
“Kosher dill pickles, bread and butter, refrigerated pickles: everything. It’s just amazing. It’s a hell of a year. I’ve never seen anything like this in my life. Raspberries — people are selling blueberries for $1 a pint. You know what that’s telling me? The fruit is just off the charts,” Parzyk said.
A dearth then deluge of rain that hit the area over the last month and a half impacted everyone’s crops, he added.
“I live in Stratford — that’s a long way — but I slay them in Durham and I’m going against farmers that have acres of crops. Quality, that’s what counts. All my stuff’s organic, and it’s appreciated, too,” said Parzyk, who boasts he can can “anything.”
“It can be fruit, it can be vegetables. (The exhibit committee) said, ‘So, you can can bluejeans?’ I said I didn’t mean to that extreme,” he said with a chuckle.
For information, visit the Durham Fair on Facebook and durhamfair.com, or call 860-3499495.