Ask why Susan LaFleur does what she does, year after year, to organize the Annual Rochester Grange Fair and you’ll get a humorous and also heartfelt mixed response.
At first, she’ll tell you that it is because she is insane on some level – volunteering countless hours of time, even months before the Grange Fair festivities formally began on Friday, August 15, filling out all the paperwork with the State Department of Agriculture, designing the fair booklets, and all the time it takes setting up for the event.
And then, all joking aside, LaFleur, the Rochester Grange and Grange Fair secretary, will tell you why she really donates so much of her time and energy to coordinate one of the events that seems to dwindle every year across the state and across the country.
“It’s tradition,” said LaFleur on Saturday, August 16, minutes before participants in the Grange Fair would arrive to find out if their flower arrangement or gigantic zucchini won first prize in their respective competitions. “There are very few granges that are still doing them.”
Every year, the members of the Rochester Grange and their friends bring forth their prize-winning tomatoes, squashes, eggplants, baked goods, handicrafts, you name it – all things country – in hopes that theirs will win first prize. Although, in many cases the prize does not exceed three dollars, they still get a pretty first, second, or third-place ribbon – plus bragging rights for having the most perfect green bell pepper in the town.
The Grange Country Fair tradition began 104 years ago, when LaFleur said granges were popular around the country and people flocked to the grange fairs to display the fruits of their labor, to socialize, and to gather as a community.
“Way back then the Grange was very agricultural. Now, it’s a lot more … it does everything in the community sense,” said LaFleur. “They used the fair as a way to show off their crops to the world.”
LaFleur said the grange fairs were a lot like the Rochester Country Fair of our own time, with horse pulling and cattle and sheep shows.
This year, according to Rochester Grange Assistant Steward Beth Gonneville, entries were a bit down from previous years, and people that normally enter simply did not this year. After all, it was an uncommonly late spring season this year, which delayed the planting of many a garden in Rochester.
“One girl said she had to plant twice this year,” said Gonneville, “so the vegetables weren’t ready in time.”
Others just did not see the results as spectacular as in past seasons when it came to garden vegetables.
“Every year is different,” said Gonneville.
But every August, the Rochester Grange Fair goes on as scheduled, and the Grange Hall is filled once again with baskets and rows of vegetables. Walking around, you could catch a whiff of that first-place set of green bell peppers, onions, and tomatoes just sitting there in their glory with their blue and red and white ribbons lovingly laid across them. You could almost taste that first-place juicy tomato, and imagine how great it would feel to chop up those perfect cucumbers and toss them into your salad.
It takes a lot of work for the grangers to set-up for the big day, and LaFleur said help is hard to find. The membership at the Grange is simply diminishing over time. And by Friday when participants arrive with their entries, LaFleur’s head is spinning.
“You get frustrated,” said LaFleur, “but at the same time, you just don’t want to see them end.”
Thank goodness for the Boy Scouts of Troop #31, said LaFleur, who come earlier before the event to set up the wooden stands and tables, and then take them down afterwards.
“Without them, we would be doomed,” said LaFleur. “If they didn’t come and do the heavy stuff, then we’d be in trouble.”
Herb LaFleur, husband to Sue LaFleur, said he is also in it for the tradition. He went on to list his different roles at the Grange, such as treasurer, business agent, fair chairman, and former Grange Master. Do not forget general deputy of the Massachusetts State Grange, too.
“Oh, stop boasting,” Mrs. LaFleur said to Mr. LaFleur, chuckling and adding, “We’re just a little group of folks hanging out.”
The spirit of tradition, like that of the LaFleurs, is what keeps the Rochester Grange Fair going year after year. And how long will Sue LaFleur remain secretary of the Rochester Grange?
“Basically, till I die,” laughed LaFleur. “Nobody wants the job!”
To learn more about the Grange and why you should become involved, visit the National Grange website at www.nationalgrange.org.
By Jean Perry
