Archives: Stories

Lily Joslin “The Fair”

I learned to bake bread at the fair! I was the only non-affiliated volunteer with the Maine Grain Alliance the first year they started baking bread for the Common Kitchen. It was an amazing group of experienced home and professional bakers from all walks of life, who were so welcoming to a newbie like me

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Jennifer Albee “The Fair”

It was Friday, September 22, 2006 and my sweetheart Hans and I drove from Brooklin to Unity to camp out overnight in the south parking lot before heading into the fairgrounds the next morning. We were in our old Toyota Tacoma and had fitted the back with a small mattress and camp stove, and after

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Shlomit Auciello “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 volunteer gig for the Fair is what I call “the Rose Gate Wrangler.” I got up very early: When the sheep bells started ringing really loud and the rooster started crowing,

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Chris Grigsby “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 wife and I built a straw bale home in 2007, and we met our builder at the Fair in the Energy and Shelter Area. That was a really great experience. We developed

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Dave Colson “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’ve been farming in Maine since 1981. I actually moved back to the East Coast around that time and came to the 1981 Common Ground Fair, which was held in Windsor. It was

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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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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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