Westport
in Brief!
EverythingWestport.com
Thursday,
July 11, 2013
photos/EverythingWestport.com
Quick
Article Index . . .
Need a few paperback novels to read in the last weeks of
the summer?
Images of this week’s Farmer’s Market at the Westport
Grange.
Hundreds beat the heat and humidity to attend Quakers’ used book sale.
|
EverythingWestport.com Thursday,
July 11, 2013
Click here for the complete Fair schedule
of events! Their
2013 Fair is dedicated to Charles “Charlie” Costa. Charlie was one of the
original members of the fair committee and served as their President in the
1960’s. Westport’s
perennial agricultural fair will always be our fair, a standing testament to
our roots and our heritage as a farming community. And
the candied apples and fried dough aren’t bad either. Whether
you go for the tractors or the livestock, woodsmen or flower arrangement
competition, Rosie’s racing Pigs, chicken barbeque or magicians and escape
artists, there is something for everyone at the Westport Fair. Hey,
everyone loves a fair. Click here to discover the little
known history of the Westport Fair! Visit the Westport Fair’s website now. Images
from 2012 57th annual Westport fair - Wednesday night. Click here to
see more.
Left: ground-pounding tractor
slab pulls. Center: Carousel
horses. Right: Westport’s Jim Wood
judging produce. Images
from 2012 57th annual Westport fair - Thursday night. Click here to
see more.
Left: powerful Mass Mini
Pullers. Center: Dana Perkins, Ventriloquist. Right: the Fair’s
famous saucy sausage man! Images
from 2012 57th annual Westport fair - Friday night. Click here to
see more.
Left: Milking out before the judging. Center:
Dartmouth’s the Gambler yanks up the frontend on a strong pull. Right:
The Better Daze Band performs under the big tent. Images
from 2012 57th annual Westport fair - Saturday. Click here to
see more.
Left: The Goat Ropers round ‘em up in the Entertainment Tent. Center:
Ed Brightman cuts ‘em up
in the Woodsman Competition. Right: Steve Medeiros offers ‘em up at the annual baked goods auction. Images
from 2012 57th annual Westport fair - Sunday. Click here to
see more.
Left: Magician Darren Young bends steel utensils with mind-blowing psychic power. Center: Powerful, turbo-charged
diesel superstock tractors put on quite a pulling
show on the main track. Right: kids get in the act with
garden tractor pulls in the center ring. Third annual paperback book sale
sponsored by Westport Library begins Monday, July 29th. All paperbacks
are priced between $1.00 and a $1.50. EverythingWestport.com Friday, July 12, 2013 Need a few paperback novels to read in the
last weeks of the summer? The Friends of the Westport Free Public
Library (FOWL) is holding its third annual Summer Paperback Book Sale,
beginning Monday, July 29 through Friday, August 9, at the Community Room in
the Westport Free Public Library. This year's offerings include soft covered
books of all sizes and traditional pocket paperbacks. All are priced between
$1.00 and a $1.50. It is a great way to finish your summer reading and
vacation - for very little cash. FOWL is a group of volunteers who give
their time and talents to the Westport Free Public Library to benefit and
enhance its programs and collections through fundraising and advocacy. For
more information on joining or supporting FOWL, please contact the library at
508.636.1100 or through their webpage at http://library.westport-ma.com/fowl. Images of this week’s Farmer’s
Market at the Westport Grange. EverythingWestport.com Sunday, July 14, 2013
Hundreds beat the heat and humidity to attend Quakers’ used
book sale. Gretchen Baker-Smith blew the whistle and
launched the 52nd running of the books. EverythingWestport.com Sunday,
July 14, 2013
iPad and iPhone users
please review the YouTube video.
And
so began the 52nd running of the books, the signature annual fundraiser for
the Westport Monthly Meeting of Friends (Quakers), a ritual that provides
much needed funds to maintain the Friends Meeting House and their Main Road
property. In
addition to the year-round hard work of sorting and pricing used books for
resale at a fraction of their original value, the Book Fair held every July
is also a joyous community event that attracts hundreds of people from the
surrounding area to their grounds at 858 Main Road, Westport. The
Food Tables, next to the children's books, were selling homemade baked goods,
coffee, hot dogs and more, and were open at 9:00 a.m. The
opening day of the Fair runs until dusk on Saturday,
and books may be purchased daily for about two weeks thereafter. In
its 52 years, the Book Fair has usually enjoyed fair weather, but it has gone
on despite rain, heat, and even Hurricane Beulah! “There was a
leaky roof in the parsonage, which is the building across the street, and we
organized our first used book fair to make enough money to pay for a new roof.
We collected $500.” - Dr. Stuart Kirkady All books taken in are sold or dispersed.
The Quakers ship any remaining books overseas or to places they know that
could use them, or to paper recyclers. They start fresh every year.
"We schedule our camping trip at the Horseneck Beach Reservation campgrounds around the book
sale," Jon said. "Yah, and we always go to
the church rummage sale at the Point as part of our adventure," Deborah
chimed in. "This is so much fun, so many books, and so many people,"
Jon said. "It's a great day out." "We will bring the books we buy this
year back to next year's Book Fair, so they can be resold the following
year," Deborah said. "These books are truly a gift that keeps on
giving." "Excuse me," Deborah said. "I
have to go back for another load!" The Quaker's Book fair is one of the area’s
oldest, biggest and best book sales. Thrifty shoppers can expect to find some
20,000 books, ranging from six-for-a-dollar paperbacks to treasured hardbounds. The success of the Book Fair is in the
integrity of the Quakers to avoid picking the "cream of the crop"
of donated books for future sale at higher prices.
Left: one of the original
founders, Dr. Stuart Kirkaldy takes in the first
payments in the 52nd annual Friends used book sale. Right:
books were categorized to help bargain hunters quickly find their prizes.
Left: massage therapist Gail
Baer examines a find. Center: shoppers found higher quality
hardbounds in the Friends Meeting House. Right:
The Callen Sisters provided the afternoon
entertainment. "All donated books are collected,
stored and made secure until our annual book fair," Kirkaldy
said. "All titles are sorted and put out on the tables by volunteers,
and nobody, including large book sellers, gets preferential buying or
pre-selection before the book sale." Everybody gets an equal opportunity when the
flags are dropped. “So he looked at
them, and then very quietly and calmly, without even smiling, handed me one
of them and said you might want to keep this one – it’s a first edition of
Moby Dick!” – Dr.
Stuart Kirkaldy First edition of Moby Dick discovered at second
annual used book sale. “We
had a very funny thing happen in one of our first used book sales,” Kilkaldy said. “We
had a lot of books come over from the Odd Fellows’ Library in New Bedford and
we marked them all at 25 cents. We
didn’t know very much about books at that time. The
next year I asked the Friends pastor if he wouldn’t mind looking at these old
books and tell me whether we should keep any of them.” “So
he looked at them, and then very quietly and calmly, without even smiling,
handed me one of them and said you might want to keep this one – it’s a first
edition of Moby Dick!” Editor’s
note: first editions have sold at auction for as high as $60,000 US dollars.
Left: Beverley takes a moment
to preview a prospective paperback. Right: Sandra Pitassi
of Seekonk takes time out from book hunting to enjoy a delicious hotdog.
“Our
best year to date,” Kirkaldy said, “was about
$20,000.” “I
certainly hope I can drive down here next year from Vermont to be at the 53rd
used book sale,” the 75-year-old Kirkaldy said. The
event ended the day at dusk, but will resume again the next nine days!
iPad and iPhone users
please review the YouTube video. Click here to view high-resolution photo album – 44 photos. Need Adobe Flash to view album? Click here
to down load it. Book Fair Steering Clerk Greg Marcello © 2013 Community Events of Westport. All rights
reserved. EverythingWestport.com |
