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09/12/2017 04:00 PMThe weather is turning, students are back in school, and that means it’s time for the annual Guilford Fair. The fair, which runs Friday to Sunday, Sept. 15 to 17, has been a long-standing tradition in town, dating back more than a century. Now, thanks to a recent gift, residents passing through town hall can look at a new visual representation of the fair’s lengthy history.
Former selectman and past president of the Guilford Agricultural Society Harvey Smith recently stopped by town hall to present the town with a piece of fair history—an original, farmed, pre-civil war advertisement for the Guilford Fair.
“This is a piece of Guilford’s history,” said Smith. “It is probably the only one still in existence. I have had it in my possession over 25 years and I took it to be put on special paper, matted, and put in a frame so I could protect it. I wanted to gift it to [First Selectman] Joe [Mazza] and the town hall to have it be part of Guilford’s history.”
The date on the original broadsheet is 1860—the second year the fair was held. Smith said the Agricultural Society formed in 1858, but too late in the season to have a fair so the first fair was held in 1859. How Smith managed to stumble upon this piece of history was pure chance.
“It was in someone’s attic in Guilford,” he said. “At the time I was either president or vice president of the society and I was collecting old memorabilia.”
A family had recently left the home, and an acquaintance had purchased the salvage rights to the belongings left behind.
“This was in a pile to be thrown out,” Smith said. “His wife spotted this, knew of me, and said, ‘I think Harv Smith would be interested in saving that.’”
The broadsheet reflects a different fair than most people are familiar with today—one focused purely on agricultural exhibits. That and the cost to enter the exhibit hall was 10 cents. Smith said the fair has changed with the times, as it must, but the goal of the fair remains true and continues to be an important part of life in Guilford.
“The fair has been such a big part of Guilford’s history for over a century and will continue,” he said. “The fair survived some really tough times and it is stronger and better than it has ever been in its present state… Without the entertainment and the fun elements, now you wouldn’t have the crowds we have, but the purpose and the intent and the significance, all of these things are just as important as when the first few people met in 1858 to say, ‘Hey we should have a fair.’”
Mazza said he is looking into having the broadsheet displayed in Town Hall next to the large painting of the Guilford Fair depicting when the event was held on the Town Green.
The Guilford Fair returns to town from Friday to Sunday, Sept. 15 to 17. A tradition since 1859, the fair promises food, entertainment, agricultural displays, rides, and much more. The fair runs Friday from 1 to 11 p.m., Saturday from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m., and Sunday, Sept. 17 from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children between the ages of 6 and 11. For more information, visit guilfordfair.org.
The highly anticipated Guilford Fair and Citizens Day Parade, viewed as the traditional opening of the fair, kicks of Saturday, Sept. 16 at 10 a.m. When the parade makes its way around town, participants will march to the theme “Commit to Be Fit.”