Fair-Minded New Englanders Find Common Ground in Celebration of Simple Life

You can’t find Ferris wheels, ox-pulling contests or junk-food stands at the Common Ground Country Fair, but the annual celebration of living off the land has harvested a substantial following.

“If you’re going to go to one fair in the state of Maine, this is it,” said June Stauffer, whose family business makes wooden buckets. “It’s a good, clean fair.”

“It doesn’t work against my spirit to work at a fair like this,” added her husband, John.

The idea of a fair to focus on organic farming and traditional Maine crafts was born in 1977, when a group of volunteers organized the first Common Ground fair in six weeks. It drew about 10,000 people.

In its first decade, it has outgrown the fairgrounds in Litchfield where it was once held. It has attracted a following all over New England, including people who live on plumbing-free subsistence farms and those who arrive in elaborate motor homes.

42,000 in Attendance

Unofficial attendance figures were put at more than 42,000 for the 1986 fair, which ran for three days this month at the state fairgrounds in Windsor.

“The attendance is about all we can handle comfortably,” said Jay Adams, executive director of the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Assn., which sponsors the event that now takes a year to plan and 500 volunteers to run.

But its tradition of avoiding the gaudy side of state fairs, with their noisy midways, games of chance and tests of human and animal muscle, has remained intact.

“I don’t believe there’s another grass-roots fair like this,” said Adams. “This is really a one-of-a-kind event.” He said the nonprofit group has received inquiries from as far away as Montana about organizing similar events.

The food stands featured all-natural snacks and additive-free fruit juices and teas. The organic popcorn was cooked in safflower oil and flavored with sea salt, and the pizza had a whole-wheat crust. There were also ginger carrots, corn bread, brown rice, organic salads, lamb barbecue and maple milkshakes.

Varied Commercial Exhibits

Commercial exhibitors displayed harnesses, dried flowers and herbs, spinning wheels, biological pesticides and fertilizers, maple syrup and cider.

Leather workers, potters, weavers and woodworkers shared tips on their crafts. Demonstrations ranged from post and beam construction to solar food drying.

For the children, instead of generator-driven mechanical rides blasting out rock tunes, there was a horse pulling a wagon, and the loudest noises were the braying of donkeys and squealing of pigs.

Youngsters also could listen to storytellers, watch puppet shows, finger-paint or play at a child-size carpenter’s bench where a sign said swords and other weapons were banned.

“It has a sort of gentle side. It’s quieter and more harmonious” than the other state fairs, said Adams. “It’s a better place for families. There are little pockets where you can get together.”