Reminiscences of Children's Fair (Continued)
Construction of the Fair (Continued Page 19 - 20)
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
Construction of the Fair - Page 19 - 20
They allowed all to have some part in the speaking, without taking too much time. There were other difficulties to encounter in this attempt to throw in, between the dinner and the auction, something that would diminish the disorder and confusion incident to clearing tables and preparing for the latter in the one room. There must be in the material we used for the stage an eye kept on increasing the interest of all in the primary object in view, and there must be rehearsals with those to whom parts were given.
The first object in view was to train the rising generation in knowledge of and sympathy with the needs of the world, and to cultivate in them while young the desire and the habit of giving aid, and yes, the duty of all, to extend a helping hand in trying to diminish the evil and increase the good that is in the world in which we live. This must be done by the character of the material used.
The next consideration was in reference to rehearsals. Our children are widely scattered, and on farms and in villages remote from each other. Saturday afternoons seemed the only available opportunity to meet together, as the increasingly shortened days of autumn did not afford time after school.
When the name of a child and the part he would have could be sent to a common school teacher known by us, we asked her to give him a little drill sometimes; in those ways were obviated some of our difficulties. I recall a drive with Miss Lee and her father's old horse Dolly, to get Addison's oldest son Charley to take part in a selected, I think, dialogue. There was labor in this new branch of work for the festival, but like all the rest of the labor, and like all labor in a good cause, there was also compensation. I speak more at length on this topic because it has proved to be a profitable addition to the program, and gave our young people something to do on the day as well as to procure during the year something to turn into money on the day of sale. It has been a part of every fair ever since introduced at this thirteenth fair, and we could hardly do without it, even in these later years. I give specimens of the material used which will be taken from various parts. They were written for the younger children in all the years since they were first demanded, and have been "on call" from Dove-hole, or brain, since I ceased to be an acting member of committees.
They were written to inspire interest in some special direction, some object at the time engaging the thoughts of Christian men and women. Or, we wanted to inspire confidence in those who had come to an age when self-consciousness made a child feel that, as one expressed it, "Why! I felt as if the audience was one great eye looking straight at me!" or some times as little sermons or reminders to the listeners off the stage, or to give better knowledge of what was being done for a needy world, and sometimes as spice to season a dull dish that had just been presented; and often to meet the application of a late comer who asked for "a piece to speak.
157th Children’s Fair - August 20, 2018
James Roger diary entry
22nd July 1913
Warm wind west, dry and dusty. David raking hay in Barretts’ Meadow in the morning, weeding etc. in garden, went to Greenville for grain etc.in afternoon. I picked fowl and did some weeding and cultivating. Got letter from brother Bob. I wrote to Dr. Stimson (in) Fitchburg and sent $15 in payment of his bill.
Upcoming Event
163rd Children’s Fair - August 17, 2024
New Ipswich Congregational Church
150 Main Street, New Ipswich, NH
10 AM - 3 PM
I wonder when James Roger was picking fowls for others, were these birds he had raised that then were requested by customers or did people sometimes bring birds to him to be slaughtered and processed?