The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
‘It’s small-town America at its best’
Colebrook Fair celebrates 76th event
COLEBROOK — Hundreds of people spent a picture-perfect, late-summer day at the 76th annual Colebrook Fair Saturday.
After a one-year hiatus because of the COVID-19 pandemic, people were back in force — some with masks, and some without — to browse through several dozen vendor booths, play games that included a frogjumping contest, sample baked goods and an assortment of other foods and walk-through a car show. The fair’s highly popular and entertaining cardboard “regatta” was wellattended, and kids were treated to face-painting, pony rides, balloon-twisting, a pet show and a pie-eating contest.
“This is fabulous. It’s small town America at its best,” said Beth Smith,
who traveled with her family from Shrewsbury, Mass., to attend the fair and visit her mom, Sally Bainbridge, a Colebrook resident.
“We need more of this, and it’s great to see people back enjoying themselves together,” Bainbridge said.
Quite a few activities were for children, which, as Town Clerk Debbi McKeon said, was one of the main purposes of the fair, traditionally held on Labor Day weekend since its beginnings.
“The fair began in 1944 during World War II and was a way to get the kids playing together and give them something fun to do,” she said. “The frog-jumping contest was one of the events in the first fair and continues to this day.”
According to McKeon, a local teacher thought a little fair would be fun for her students during World War II. The first fair was small, with live music from a bandstand, a fortune teller and a table with farm products and crafts. But it was successful, and the next year, they held the fair again and people came from surrounding towns.
Colebrook Associates, a civic organization that provides support to local residents in need, took over the fair in 1946, and with the town’s help, the Colebrook Fair became an annual activity. In 2012, the town took over the fair’s operations and added more attractions. The fair’s traditional activities remained, supervised by local volunteers.
McKeon said, “We missed last year, but it’s great to see so many people back this year. The number of people really increased when the car show was started about nine years ago.”
Many people were milling about the antique and new cars, on display in a lower field near the town center.
Inside the Senior and Community Center, a silent auction and baked goods sale were taking place, which benefited the center and its programs, said Deborah Crowell, Senior and Community Center director.
“(We) are back open and holding events, so we encourage people to come down and join us,” Crowell said. “We are selling pies, have a raffle and holding a silent auction to raise money for the center. It’s really great to see a big crowd.”
A larger group of spectators were gathered around the Colebrook Volunteer Fire Department’s trucks, on display near the Senior and Community Center. Members of the department’s rescue team gave a demonstration of the “jaws of life” that is used to extract people trapped in a car after an accident.
During the morning, music by Frank and Sam Guglielmino of the Mad River Band entertained the crowd, with Jim Moore and the Guglielminos performing in the afternoon.
Julia Stewart and her husband, Mike, owners of Simply Jam, were near the Senior and Community Center kitchen where she and her spouse whip up their tasty creations.
“We really needed something like this, especially the kids,” said Julia Stewart. “It’s nice to see smiles and people interacting. Some have masks and others don’t but I don’t see anyone getting upset at anybody else about their choice, and that’s a good thing.”
One of the vendors, Colossal Kielbasa, traveled from Stratford for the Colebrook Fair.
“We started as a small undertaking to raise money for our men’s society at St. Joseph’s Church in Stratford,” said Rob Shandrowski, who was working the busy booth with his brother, Joe Shandrowski and Brian Putorak, the latter whipping up some softly fried pirogues with onions.
It was a good day in Colebrook, this town of some 1,700 people that probably best be described as usually “blissfully sleepy.” But that term didn’t apply Saturday — the town’s center was alive with people, and lots of laughter, banter and smiles.