Archives: Stories

Eli Berry “The Fair”

This story appeared in the 2020-2021 winter issue of The Maine Organic Farmer & Gardener in response to the theme, “The Fair.” The first time I went to the Fair was in ’79 or ’78. Mort Mather, who was a deeply involved member and founder of a lot of wonderful things at MOFGA, was running a station with an old carnival

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Sylvia Smith “The Fair”

This story appeared in the 2020-2021 winter issue of The Maine Organic Farmer & Gardener in response to the theme, “The Fair.” I love working with the people at MOFGA and at the Common Ground Fair. I got connected with the Common Ground Country Store as a volunteer. I received the T-shirts and kept track of that.

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Stephen Oliver “The Fair”

This story appeared in the 2020-2021 winter issue of The Maine Organic Farmer & Gardener in response to the theme, “The Fair.” The Common Ground Country Fair has become a yearly ritual for me, since I first participated in the Social & Political Action Area 10 years ago as a Peace Action Maine board member.

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Paul Volckhausen “The Fair”

This story appeared in the 2020-2021 winter issue of The Maine Organic Farmer & Gardener in response to the theme, “The Fair.” One of the highlights of my times at the Fair was in 2003 when I was lucky enough to be able to introduce Juvelina Palmer, who was a small farmer and community organizer

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Avery Yale Kamila “The Fair”

This story appeared in the 2020-2021 winter issue of The Maine Organic Farmer & Gardener in response to the theme, “The Fair.” My favorite memory of the Fair is not so much a specific incident but rather a feeling. It’s a rhythmic sense of contentment and connectedness that washes over me every time I attend

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Nat Peirce

Here’s a memory from Nat Peirce, chief operating officer at GrandyOats: “MOFGA has played an important role in my personal and business life since the beginning.  Even before GrandyOats, MOFGA certified organic a piece of land that I was large-scale gardening with my friend in Sweden, Maine. On that property we eventually helped to save

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Nancy Galland

Here’s a memory from Nancy Galland: “1994, Windsor, Maine: Our last farmers’ market at the Common Ground Fair was drowned in three straight days of rain. Saturday was a wash-out. Torrents. Deluge. Ten inches of rain. Lakes formed in front of the booths and vendors were forced to abandon their shelters as the water rose.

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Hannah Ineson

Here’s a memory from Hannah Ineson: “Back in the 1980s, my business partner Susan Hamill and I operated the Way of Life Center, a macrobiotic store and center in Waldoboro. For three years we had a booth or two at the Common Ground Country Fair. We also had a breakfast booth for workers, which was

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Diana Prizio

Here’s a memory from Diana Prizio: “The second year of the Fair, in Litchfield, I worked with Allen Powell making and selling tacos. That year, I also met Carol and Eric Hammond and Jack Kertesz. Over the 3 to 4 days that year, Carol and I brainstormed about the need for a kitchen facility that

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Kate Dean

Here’s a memory from Kate Dean: “In 1976, Albie Barden called a group of people together to make natural foods at county fairs around the state of Maine. I was between college years, and ready for a summer job that didn’t involve living at home. We had two teams: Jo and me, and two others,

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