Grange fair to be held virtually
The 88th annual Cannon Grange Agricultural Fair will be different from fairs in years past.
The public can still vie for blue ribbons by submitting homegrown flowers, fruits and vegetables, pies, photography and a number of other items.
But in order to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, there will be no fair festivities on Sunday, Aug. 3, at Grange Hall on Cannon Road.
Instead, the fair will be held virtually via YouTube.
Changing the fair’s format from “live” to “virtual” has posed challenges for the grange’s executive board.
“A country fair is, by definition, many people close together. That was our problem in planning for this fair,” said Bil Mikulewicz, vice president of the board.
To maintain social distancing, a live fair would have meant excluding a lot of popular fair activities.
“For all intents and purposes, we couldn’t hold games, the watermeloneating contest, or face painting. We also couldn’t have the vendors who added so much interest and texture to the event with all sorts of unique items. This is a loss of revenue for us, but we really have no choice but to lean more to the health part of the equation,” Mikulewicz said.
Instead of canceling the fair outright, the board opted to create a virtual fair, “a 21st-century solution to the problem,” according to Mikulewicz. “We are designing a prototype template for not only this summer but also one that is solid, flexible, and stable enough for future use,” he said.
One of the main challenges for the virtual fair is how to divide contest categories into items that must be physically present for judging and items that can be submitted via a photo or video. Timelines for fair entries and protocols for physical entries also need to be determined.
Contests for the fair are open to all members of the public, and categories traditionally include baked goods and preserves, crafts and collections, vegetables and fruit, flowers, eggs, sewing and needlework, poultry and fowl, rabbits, photography, and watercolor painting.
“The core of the fair is the contests, with big silken blue ribbons for first prize,” Mikulewicz said. “The biggest contest is culinary arts — breads, cookies, pies, jellies, jams, and pickles, etc. We are working on a way to organize these contests along with the judging, in order to maintain social distancing,” he said.
With photos and videos an option for some categories, Mikulewicz foresees a potential increase in submissions in the animal categories.
“It is a big schlep trying to herd chickens. Herding chickens is worse than herding cats. Heck, I never entered any of my chickens in the fair because it seemed too cumbersome, but now I think I will,” he said.
The virtual fair will also feature a number of “howto” presentations on topics such as composting, raising backyard chickens, brewing wine and beer, sous vide cooking, gardening, and crafts in the kitchen and around the grounds of a house.
On the downside, the fair has been a major annual source of revenue for Cannon Grange, helping pay for the maintenance of its historic building. The virtual fair may take a big financial hit. “Will we be able to get sponsors for the virtual fair, that remains to be seen,” Mikulewicz said.
The Cannon Grange Agricultural Fair has a long history in Wilton. It was first presented in 1933 as an event to showcase homemaking and agriculture.
The fair was held at the end of summer so area farmers could submit choice selections from their crops for competition.
At the onset of World War II, the fair was discontinued because many residents were involved with the war effort. The fair was restarted in 1976 as a celebration of the nation’s bicentennial.
While the fair goes back
88 years, Cannon Grange
#152 goes back even further. It was founded in Wilton on May 4, 1899, when William McKinley was president of the United States, the Spanish-American War came to an end, and Queens and Staten Island merged with New York City.
Cannon Grange is one of Wilton’s oldest organizations still in existence and one that still meets in its original building at 25 Cannon Road.
At this point, plans for the upcoming virtual fair are still evolving and announcements about contest deadlines and viewing options will be posted on the grange’s website https://cannongrange.org/.