This year at the hometown Tavistock Fall Fair, there was much to see and do as usual. With some new twists. You had to be there to know. A family movie on Friday evening brought in families. Face painter Hannah had her first lineups that evening. And she was very busy all weekend.

“I thought you might run out of paint,” I said to her during a quiet time.

“No, I have lots,” she said and smiled.

She’s such a gentle soul, and it’s no surprise that even a shy child might want their face painted by her.

I didn’t get photos of the midway since my table was in the arena. I had helpers three different times on Saturday and Sunday. I got to look around a bit at the displays before the people arrived on Saturday and Sunday and then several times between. I had opportunity to bid on a silent auction item that I really appreciated, and I knew who had sewn it.

 

 

All my books were on display and I had many opportunities to tell the story of where Harry’s Trees began.

There were two new books for this audience — the two that Iaunched during COVID — Discover Your Story (co-written with Donna Mann), and Sophie and the Giant Boy.

During the early part of 2022, I began to experiment with water colours, and last fall sold my first watercolour on cards at our church cookie and craft sale. Books found new homes, and cards too. My location at the fair was very helpful too, out in the open and visible to many entering the arena doors from the fairgrounds.

The Tavistock Historical Society “pulled out all the stops” said board member Sherrill Calder. “It was a whole team effort,” she said, deflecting any praise of her creativity.

The display was most amazing, and much larger than previous years, to celebrate a big anniversary of Tavistock — the 175th. They had balloons (we heard many pops over the fair), word search and other puzzles, and name the people in photos opportunities. Probably  the most exciting this year was the large mural, painted by someone in the community, of the main intersection of Tavistock at an earlier time. People could dress up and get their photos taken. I gave it a try during one of my quieter moments.

 

A person in the booth plunked a woman’s hat on my head, suggested where I could stand and then snapped my photo with my cell phone. And so I have a record of it too.

 

Other business displays invited sales of their products, including my niece, Ann, with her wreath business, XO, and her partner in business Margaret.

Inside the arena, there were the usual exhibits, a book sale area of used books of many genres.

The children’s Lego exhibits were displayed in the curling rink area. We have some talented and creative-thinking youngsters coming up who will continue, I hope, to explore their talents at future fairs.

This is one example of something created without a kit by a Junior Kindergarten student I happen to know.

 

Displays in a quiet moment. We had the photo contest, exhibits of sewing, knitting, scrapbooking, baking, and preserving and many other crafts. No photo of the silent auction area this year since I was rather busy managing my own table.

One more photo — a winning one at that — from the photo contest display that made me smile.

I hope it will make you smile as well.