The demise of the Peach Festival

Date: 11/2/2009

By Debbie Gardner

Assistant Managing Editor

WILBRAHAM -- After 25 successful Augusts, the the Wilbraham Community Association's (WCA) annual Peach Festival is off the boards, at least for the coming year.

The organization will continue awarding grants and scholarships and is developing plans for alternative events to maintain funding for these activities.

Cate Duquette, secretary for the WCA, told Reminder Publications that the decision not to go forward with this year's festival was reached at the organization's Oct. 14 Board of Directors meeting.

She cited a lack of manpower as the main reason for discontinuing the annual event.

In a letter dated Oct. 26, the Board of Directors announced their decision to all other association members, the town's selectmen, Sen. Gale Candaras and Peach Festival vendors and supporters. Festival volunteers received an e-mail conveying the same message later that week.

David Barry, chair of the Board of Selectmen, said he and the other board members were saddened to learn that the festival wasn't returning in 2010, but understood the WCA's reasons.

"The Peach Festival for years has been part of the fabric or the town," Barry said, speaking for his fellow board members. "It was a tradition that the people in town, both young and old, looked forward to and went to."

Speaking for the WCA's board, Duquette said it was a very hard call to make.

"We went in saying 'what can we do [to keep it going]'," she said. "But we need to take a break. We've been too thin on the staffing and we are wearing out the people we have."

Duquette said the dwindling number of volunteers was not a new problem, but one that had been addressed before when the board considered calling off the 2008 festival.

She thanked The Reminder for the front page story it ran at the time, citing it as the main reason the organization garnered some new volunteers that year.

"The Reminder was our biggest help -- we had standing room only at that meeting [in the Brooks Room] in January," Duquette recalled. "But by the time we got to the festival [the enthusiasm] had definitely dwindled."

"When people found out it wasn't just showing up for one day, enthusiasm waned," Helene Pickett, a founding member of the Peach Festival, stated in a separate interview.

By the time the association wrapped this year's festival, Duquette said the association's volunteer work chart "was back where it was in 2000, and that's not enough."

She also cited dwindling participation by fellow civic organizations as a secondary reason the WCA has decided to explore other ways to carry out their mission.

"The groups in town are not taking advantage of this opportunity," Duquette said of the chance for community exposure provided by the three-day festival. "This year we didn't even have our lower field because we had no groups interested in participating."

She relayed comments from a former Minnechaug graduate who visited this year's festival and was disappointed by what he saw as a lack of community involvement.

She said he could remember when the graduating class, the football team and other school groups would all have a booth, along with many other town organizations.

"We've heard from other organizations [in town] that people aren't participating, that volunteerism is down," she commented in response.

Pickett, who organized the very first Peach Festival with founder John Sevey 25 years ago, was philosophical about the decision to end the long-running event.

"Well, actually, sometimes I think things have to come to an end," Pickett said. "I think if John were [here] to have a vote on this, he'd agree with us."

Pickett said the WCA's plan is to schedule more frequent events -- the kind a few people can plan and organize -- throughout the year to ensure the organization can continue to fund its grants and scholarships.

"I think maybe we can get more people involved if we have more events, smaller events," she said.

And she didn't rule out a resurrection of the popular festival, if the conditions were right.

"If a whole group of people come in like John and I did." she said.



Following is the letter from the WCA:

To the Residents of Wilbraham:

On October 14, the 2009 the Officers and Board of Directors of the Wilbraham Community Association met to discuss the WCA activities for 2010. After a lengthy and heartfelt discussion, we came to the conclusion that we will not be hosting a Peach Festival in 2010.

We want to assure you that the WCA is financially sound with sufficient funds on hand to continue giving grants and scholarships for the next several years.

Forgoing the Peach Festival was not a decision that was easy to reach, but after a careful review of the time, effort, and energy that go into putting on the Festival, we simply do not have the requisite staff to continue organizing an event of the magnitude of the Festival. To the general public, the Festival is three days in August, but it's actually the culmination of 10 months effort from an ever-shrinking pool of volunteers who give greatly of their time and energy for the benefit of others.

The dwindling resource issue is not anything new; many of you will remember the 2008 Save the Festival Campaign which resulted in a huge turnout in the Brooks room. Our heartfelt thanks go out to the handful of energetic and committed volunteers that "answered the call" -- they played a major part in our ability to hold the 2008 and 2009 Festival.

One of the top items on at our Annual Meeting in January will be exploring organizing other, smaller community events to continue our mission. While the Annual Meeting is restricted to our membership, we encourage and welcome input from the community at large.

The easiest manner to convey your ideas is e-mailing them to asktheWCA@aol.com or mail to Wilbraham Community Association, Attn: 2010 Ideas, P.O. Box 675, Wilbraham, MA 01095.

While 25 years of Peach Festivals could not have happened without the tireless support of our volunteers (and the patience and understanding of their loved ones), we also relied upon our sponsors and local businesses, the town leadership, departments and staff and our sister civic organizations. The WCA would like to extend our sincere thanks to the people of Wilbraham and surrounding communities for supporting this annual event.

On behalf of the Officers of the Wilbraham Community Association,

Chuck Higgins, President

Jen Nowak, Financial Vice President

Lou Curto, First Vice President

Tom Duquette, Second Vice President

Cate Duquette, Secretary

Barb Warner, Treasurer