LUDLOW, Vt. – The air was crisp and filled with music at the 38th Annual Ludlow Harvest Fair, which took place on Saturday, Oct. 1 on the front lawn of the Expeditionary School at Black River (ESBR).
Courtney McGuire, the secretary of the Ludlow Elementary School Parent Teacher Group (PTG), said the Harvest Fair’s primary purpose was to raise funds for various student activities at the school. These include the winter program, in which students ski, snowboard, snowshoe, and skate at Okemo. The fundraiser also helps pay for playground renovations, assemblies for the elementary school, and artist in residence programs. All the proceeds from the Harvest Fair go back to Ludlow Elementary School.
McGuire noted that the Harvest Fair has gotten bigger every year since its inception, and that the fair’s biggest draw is Doo Doo Bingo, which raised approximately $5,000 for the school. In this event, participants buy a bingo square on a life-sized, outdoor bingo board for $20 and wherever a miniature pony deposits its “doo” is the winning square. This year’s winner, Sharon Godfrey, won $1,000.
The fair had about forty vendors selling everything from baked goods to crafts, such as jewelry and wooden cutting boards. Another popular spot at the fair was a goat petting zoo.
Oliviah Eliott, a sixth-grader at Ludlow Elementary School, circulated around the festival dressed up as a lion, the school’s mascot.
One of the more unusual booths at the fair belonged to Peter Hadeka, a beekeeper from Castleton, who’s been in the business for about 20 years. As several onlookers swarmed around his booth, Hadeka, who was Vermont’s Co-Beekeeper of the Year in 2018, said, “I come to about six of these events per year so I can explain and promote beekeeping to people. I have the observation hive to drive customers in and have the queen bee marked so kids can identify it easily. People get really thrilled about it because they’ve never seen a queen bee before.”
Trey Walker, a festival attendee, said he was most interested in the unique crafts for sale. “Some of the things on sale here are really cool. For instance, I’ve never seen lamps made out of old sap buckets.” Walker, who was visiting Rutland from Cape Cod for leaf-peeping season, came to the fair to check out the local flavor and called it “a wonderful pastiche of Vermont community.”
Walker’s sentiment was echoed by Marissa Selleck, the secretary for the ESBR Committee, who was manning an activities and crafts table for the children in attendance. Although she was not raising money for her school, Selleck – who was born and raised in Ludlow – said she was at the fair because she wanted to help the Ludlow Elementary School PTG. “I’m here to support the local elementary school PTG. I remember growing up and going to school here, and the Harvest Fair was always a big deal.”