An A’Faire to remember

Gary Moskowitz

Mariam Agazaryan will tell you that it’s important to treat the place

you call home with care, no matter where you live.

Mariam, a seventh-grader at Roosevelt Middle School, was one of

several thousand people who attended the Adams Square Merchants

Assn.’s fourth annual Adams Square Summer A’Faire on Saturday evening

in the 1100 block of South Adams Street.

The event is designed to attract attention to the local businesses

in the Adams Square area and bring people from Adams Hill and the

Adams Square area together for crafts, food, music, games and

entertainment, organizers said.

“Your neighborhood is like your family,” said Mariam, 12. “You

have to treat it good. Knowing people around you is always good,

because people are safer that way. This is a pretty fun day.”

More than 30 vendors set up booths along South Adams Street during

the event. Vendors included local city and community organizations,

businesses and restaurants. Cotton candy, rigatoni, hamburgers,

Danish pastries and refreshments were available.

The estimated 4,000 people who attended could take a jump in an

inflatable castle, ride a variety of children’s carnival rides, get

their faces painted and get temporary henna body paintings, learn

about local community services or have their fortune told by a palm

reader.

Funds raised at the event go toward the Adams Square Merchants

Assn.’s annual Christmas party, said Carol Cianfrini, a board member

for the association and Adams Square resident. The association is a

nonprofit organization.

“This is a family affair,” Cianfrini said. “Without this event,

[local residents and merchants] would not be where we are. Before,

people wouldn’t say hello and stop and talk to one another. Now,

people say hello. We have people of all different ethnic backgrounds

living here, and we want them all to stay.”

Aida Avedissian has lived in the Adams Square area for about 26

years. Aside from rising rent costs that she has experienced in

recent years, she loves the community she calls home.

“I love it here, and so does my mother,” Avedissian said. “It’s

quiet and safe, and it’s nice here. There are different cultures

living here, and that’s a good thing for the community. It’s a

perfect idea to bring everybody together like this.”