Tri-State Chamber of Commerce Festival of Trades, Arts and Crafts

Business and the weather were both brisk at the 18th annual Tri-state Chamber of Commerce Festival of Trades, Arts and Crafts on Sunday, March 28.

As always, the popular annual event was held in the gym at Housatonic Valley Regional High School. Some years, it snows. Some years, there is deep mud on the surrounding lawns. And of course, sometimes the weather is delightful.

This year, the weather was dry but quite chilly, especially in comparison to the high temperatures of recent weeks. There are some fair-watchers who believe that the weather is a good indicator of what kind of attendance there will be. The 2010 fair wasn’t overwhelmingly crowded at any one time, but there was a large number of people walking through the aisles all through the day, from 10 a.m. all the way to 3 p.m. — despite fierce competition from the many televised basketball games that day.

There were more food vendors this year than there had been recently. In addition to hot dogs, burgers and chili from the Housatonic Valley FFA, there were also sandwiches and chowder from Kristin Marie’s, the new restaurant at the Geer complex in North Canaan; and Deano’s Pizza and Habitat for Humanity teamed up to sell pizza and sodas.

Entertainment on the stage in the lunchroom was provided by Steve Dunn and his band. But the real entertainment, as always was provided by the men, women and children who strolled up and down the aisles, collecting brochures and candy from area businesses with booths and stopping to share hearty hellos with friends and family.