Reminiscences of Children's Fair (Continued)
Construction of the Fair (Continued Page 25 - 27)
Records and Reminiscences of Children’s Fair
“Seeking to make idle hours useful hours, I have written it in my old age Please accept my old RECORDS AND REMINISCENCES.” - C. H. Obear - July 8, 1911
Reminiscences ( Pages 25 - 27)
The requisites in preparing these for the small children were brevity, rhyme, and words the children could understand.. As the years go by, and the harvest festivals come and go, and as I sit and review the past without much apparent alteration in their course, I see that this little stream of benevolence springing up among the New Ipswich hills to do its humble part in watering the waste places of the earth, has had watchful eyes to rest upon it, to see that it should not be clogged or diverted from its course.
Had there not been men and women of the same steady, unyielding principle of their ancestry on the general committee who managed each successive year the one unpretending stream sending its waters through many channels, would have ceased; it would have no longer given expression to desire to bless a needy world, everywhere.
Any suggestion that would check entire freedom of choice of objects on which donors should bestow their gifts was unheeded, and the majority of the friends of the fair being with them, the usual entire harmony was maintained.
Some persons would urge the propriety of calling especial attention to the needs of our own town, or a church want, and thus leave our little stream less free; but no departure has been made from the rule first made, of uninfluenced, entire freedom of choice in the bestowment of the gift.
After these nearly fifty years have passed away, there comes evidences of how firmly intrenched in the hearts of the young people of the last half of the last century, was their interest in and love for this harvest festival. And who can tell the influence its teaching has had in widening their views. in regard to sharing with those less favored, the abundance bestowed on themselves? We, who have remained at home. in New Ipswich, are cheered and encouraged by the manifestations of interest and regard from abroad.
There seems little to review in the years that intervened between the report of the committee of the fair of 1873 and that of 1887 which marked our 25th anniversary. Interest and enjoyment of the occasion did not diminish, nor money receipts. Not so much came from the auction table, but more from dinner and door tickets. As I think I have remarked, our farms were beginning to pass into the hands of other than the descendants of our early settlers; and our boys and girls found employment abroad in the world, where wider doors opened for lucrative use of their energies.
It is somewhat remarkable that no day appointed for the Children's Fair has been stormy except one, and the attendance on that day was so large, it was adopted as a rule that "hereafter there would be no postponement on account of weather." I recall two mornings when the sky looked unpromising, but the clouds lifted and the sun come out for the usual pastimes on the Common, and there was a pleasant drive home to close the day..
162nd Children’s Fair - August 19, 2023
James Roger diary entry
27th July 1913
They are, warm, and dusty; wind Westerly. Mr. Prescott preached a good sermon from the text: "thou shalt love the Lord, etc.” Evening service: 25 present. I was not there. I wrote my usual letters and one to David Paterson.
Upcoming Event
163rd Children’s Fair - August 17, 2024
New Ipswich Congregational Church
150 Main Street, New Ipswich, NH
10 AM - 3 PM