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07/20/2016 08:30 AMPam Trepanier has been volunteering at the North Haven Fair since she was a teenager in the 1960s. Now, more than five decades later, Pam has volunteered in a variety of positions and is now co-hosting the opening of the Craft Barn.
“It’s been a long time, but I love it,” says Pam. “Over the years, people were always asking where to buy crafts and the board started trying to figure out how to work it out.”
Regular vendors are required to have their booths open throughout the duration of the fair and Pam notes that the four-day commitment is often too much for crafters. The board chose to open the Craft Barn in Building No. 3 for the 2016 fair from Friday, Sept. 9 to Sunday, Sept. 11.
“Crafters can sell anything homemade and handcrafted,” says Pam. “This year we’re hoping when people walk in, they’ll see all these crafters.”
Pam enjoys taking various crafting classes at the Crafty Lady in Wallingford, Michael’s, Joann’s, North Haven Adult Education, and more. She has done a variety of crafts, including paint nights, adult coloring, and others. She is excited to bring her love of handmade items to the fair.
Jean Lewis is co-hosting the Craft Barn with Pam. Lewis was a superintendent in the agricultural building and became a board member. The pair has worked together for the last five years and Pam is excited to head up this new venture with her.
“She’s got a fantastic personality and is so nice to work with,” says Pam. “She’s wonderful and she wrote up letter that we’re sending out.”
Right now the co-hosts are busy promoting the new Craft Barn and reaching out to local crafters. While this keeps Pam busy, it is not the only aspect of the fair with which she is involved.
Pam is in charge of booking the bands that perform in the gazebo, organized WWE superstar Matt Hardy’s visit on Sunday, Sept. 11, and oversees the Exhibitors’ Book, which explains the various categories people can enter items in. There are divisions for adults (15 and up), juniors (12 to 15), and children (under 12) in traditional categories such as vegetables and plants, baking, and needlework, knitting, and other crafts.
In updating the Exhibitors’ Book this year, Pam and the board also added new categories inspired by recent trends. New categories include fairy gardens, upcycled T-shirts, arm-knit items, wine cork crafts, burlap wreaths, cake pops, cookie pies, and science projects.
“I have to keep the book up-to-date and think of new things,” says Pam. “The premium book this year was a lot of work. We also raised the premium money this year because it was low.”
The cost to enter items in the fair is $10 for adults, $6 for juniors, and free for kids. The entry fee covers as many items as you want to enter as well as a two-day pass to the fair. Prize money is awarded to those that place with ribbons or rosettes.
Seeing youth enter items is one of Pam’s favorite parts of the fair. Years ago, she was the assistant secretary of entries before becoming secretary of entries.
“It’s something special when the kids walk in because it’s not just about the rides or the food,” says Pam, who also served as secretary of the board. “They fill out their entry form, drop off their item, and they walk in with their parents and start screaming because they won a ribbon. That’s exciting and I love it.”
Pam has also seen many children enter when they are young and continue to do so into adulthood. She noted that many of those people, in turn, eventually volunteer at the fair. There are also many families, such as Pam’s, who have generations of family members submitting entries or volunteering.
“A long time ago, we had a young boy and his sister and every year, he’d enter a foil ball and add to it every year,” says Pam. “We met him when he was little and as he grew, the foil ball kept growing and growing. Now he’s a volunteer. When it gets in you, you look forward to the fair coming every year.”
When she was little, Pam’s mother volunteered at the fair and Pam always tagged along to help. By the time she was a teenager, she was an active volunteer, eventually becoming a superintendent. Now, her two daughters are following in their mother’s and grandmother’s footsteps as both are involved with one daughter working in Junior Hobbies and ordering the trophies and rosette ribbons and the other doing Junior Arts and Crafts.
“We’ve got it in the blood,” says Pam. “The fair is run entirely by volunteers and there are a lot of superintendents who are grandparents and their daughters and sons were in it and now their grandchildren are in it.”
Pam is one of 16 board members and one of about 80 volunteers. One important part of being on the board is giving back to the community. On the Friday of the fair each year, buses of more than 500 students from ACES visit and the board members help them around the fair.
“We all have jobs to do and if everyone didn’t pitch in, the fair wouldn’t work as well as it does,” says Pam. “The board likes to give back and the kids get to see different animals and the agricultural building. A lot of kids don’t get to see these animals any more and that, to me, is what the fair is about—it’s just amazing.”
For information about the Craft Barn at the North Haven Fair, visit northhaven-fair.com or email nhfaircraftbarn@aol.com. The Craft Barn also has its own Facebook page.