Family finds new fun at Big E every year

Date: 9/28/2011

Sept. 28, 2011

By Debbie Gardner

Assistant Editor

WEST SPRINGFIELD — Some people say that the Big E is just the same old stuff every year. But really, they’re wrong. Just take a trip to the annual state fair with young people in tow.

Somehow, the Gardner family managed to spend 11 hours at the fair last Saturday, yet never got to visit the animals at the Farm-a-Rama, set foot in the Better Living Center, or watch the Circus.

No, we didn’t just sit around on a bench watching people. We did stuff, like learn how to spin wool into yarn, stoke a blacksmith’s fire and cook a whole chicken over a fireplace by suspending it on a twisting string.

Evan also got the opportunity to try his had at some underwater object retrieval, courtesy of the Navy and learned how a caricature artist makes a living.

We also caught four great shows on the Village Green and in the Comcast Court of Honor.

As we walked through Storrowton Village, the fair’s own re-creation of 18th century life located across from the Avenue of States, Evan noted how much the things he saw reminded him of a class field trip to Sturbridge Village last spring. That, to me, has always seemed such an advantage to fairgoers, especially this year, as the village seems to have really kicked up its educational component. In addition to the displays and demonstration inside the Village’s buildings, several period artisans, including a potter, tinsmith, broom maker and wood carver, had working demonstration booths set up on the grounds.

Evan was fascinated watching paper artisan John Charles Bielik of Missouri turn a pan of water and drops of paint into the intricate swirled and hatched designs known as Turkish paper. Bielik explained to the crowd as he worked that, by using the action of surface tension to suspend the specially prepared paints, he was able to create a design on the water that could be transferred to paper in a process not unlike printing. However, unlike printing, each beautifully designed sheet, which he said would have been used in the 18th century to line boxes, trunks or as endpapers on printed books, can only be created once from a combination of paints.

After the demonstration, Bielik told us that he was grateful to the big E for the opportunity to show this art to more people, as many living history museums across the country have begun to eliminate demonstrations such as his due to funding cuts.

He also let Evan try his hand at dropping some of the colors into his water bath, and showed him how to swirl the designs to create an abstract flower design, which he transferred to paper so we could see the finished product.

“It was so cool,” Evan said of the process.

Just before the blacksmith shop, across from the large grey building filled with high-end crafts for sale, we met caricature artist Ben Schell, formerly of East Forest Park in Springfield. Evan was fascinated with his drawing style, and asked if we could have his caricature drawn by Schell. As he worked, Schell told Evan a bit about growing up near the Mary Dryden School, and how he and a childhood friend used to climb to the top of the hill at Wendover Road, a place his friend used to say would be a great spot to watch a tornado coming. With a laugh, Schell noted that observation seemed a bit prophetic, given the events of this past June and the tornado that passed very close to his original family home.

Evan pronounced the final picture, in which Schell had carefully included the new watch my son had just purchased in the Connecticut building, “Awesome.” I have to admit it was a very good likeness, and at just $12.75 for the black-and white drawing, a priceless snapshot of his personality at this age.

Before we left the Storrowton area, we caught Hilby the Skinny German Juggle Boy’s act. “He was like a comedian, “ Evan said, referring to the performer’s steady stream of banter as he tossed and caught a variety of items — ranging from swords to bowling balls to tennis balls and plastic baseball bats. A woman standing behind my husband, John, remarked that she had seen Hilby perform on a cruise ship, and that he was very funny. We have to agree. Hilby performs daily at the Storrowton Village Gazebo at 11 a.m., 2 and 6:30 p.m.

Our travels around the outer edge of the fair later in the day brought us to the Navy’s booth just in time to see a mock demonstration of cannon firing put on by a crew from the U.S.S. Constitution. The Navy had constructed a portion of what looked like a portion of the side of a ship with a real cannon lashed to the sides of a gun port. Sailors dressed in period uniforms performed a cannon drill, to the timed orders barked by an officer. Just behind the display, the navy’s SeaPerch http://www.seaperch.org/index program, an educational outreach designed to foster math and science learning among middle school students, had several displays of their underwater robots set up in tanks and pools. Kids were encouraged to try their hands at picking up rings and other items on the bottom of the water by manipulating the robot’s controls. We all took a turn — it was fun, but hard!

We finished up at with rides — after all no visit to the big E is complete without at least one trip down the Giant Slide — and shows at the Court of Honor. We caught The Buckingham’s performance, an insult to my 11 –year-old’s ears; good listening for those of us who remember the oldies from the 1960s. We also saw the extreme stunt work of Galaxy Girl, a balancing and trapeze artist who worked on what we thought was a radio tower next to the stage. The announcer wasn’t kidding when he said it was a death-defying act; when we wandered over to the staging area after the performance there was no big cushion on the ground, and no harness — just grass. She performs at 2, 5 and 7 p.m. daily. The Extreme Vegas magic show had plenty of dazzle and flash, some cool tricks including levitation, and on our night, one balancing accident that left the lead performer flat on his back and the audience holding its collective breath. Extreme Vegas performs at 11 a.m. and 3 and 8 p.m.

Our final look at the fair was a nighttime view of the grounds from atop a gondola on the Ferris wheel, glittering lights below, the soft glow of Springfield on the horizon.

Next year, we all agreed we make time for the circus.

Debbie Gardner can be reached by e-mail at debbieg@thereminder.com