Word that the Rochester Country Fair is ending after a 21-year run in the town is true, but only to a certain extent.
“After 21 years, there’s a lot to figure out,” fair organizer Kelly Morgado explained. She said the Fair Committee has decided to put the event “on hiatus” for the next two years to see if anyone wants to take over running it or if it should close permanently.
The Rochester Country Fair has two accounts, Morgado explained, a revolving fund through the town and its own account. The Fair Committee wants to use all of the revolving-account funds to award scholarships to six students from the town’s area high schools this year: Old Rochester Regional, Old Colony Regional Vocational-Technical High School and Bristol County Agricultural High School in Dighton. The use of the money in its other account is up in the air at this time until the committee makes a decision on the fate of the fair.
The fair became a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation in 2019, but it is around that time when the fair’s problems began. In 2018, a lightning storm plagued the event. In 2019, an Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE) epidemic interfered. Then came the big interruption of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021.
Plus, volunteerism has gone down, from between 75 and 100 in the beginning to around 22 currently, she said. “But I don’t blame the people. It’s an awful lot of work to put on. Becoming 501(c)(3) cost a lot. Then everything tanked.”
Morgado said praise should go to those who have kept the event going this long, especially co-founder Julie Koczera. “If it wasn’t for her hard work, the fair wouldn’t have gone as long as it has,” she said.
She is quick to add, “We haven’t made a final decision. We are giving it time.”
A big unknown is what to do with the fair’s home, 65 Pine Street, she said, noting the town is eyeing possibly using the property as the site of a new fire station. The permanent structures down there were all donated by different entities. Those anchored to the ground would belong to the town; what will happen to the other structures is unknown at this time. Right now, Morgado is preparing a list of the property’s structures and their histories, per the town administrator’s request.
A big part of her heartbreak over the situation is that the fair might not be here for future generations to enjoy. “I have a three-year-old granddaughter,” she said. “She loves the fair. I live right across the street, and we walk the grounds. She’ll say, ‘Where’s the corn shack? Where’s the corral?’ It’s heartbreaking what’s happening.”
By Michael J. DeCicco