A View of the Valley

by Linda Schwanke One of the signs that life is returning to normal is that the art fair (officially the Spring Green Arts & Crafts Fair) is back on track. After two years off due to the pandemic, it will be great to return to Jefferson Street to celebrate one of the best events of the summer in the Valley, always on the last full weekend in June. The fair is smaller this year than in the past because things aren’t quite 100 percent back to normal but I’ll take what I can get. I’m looking forward to all the art, the food, and, most of all, the people.  People are what it’s all about, a fact not lost on my mom. She had the idea, many years ago, of having a party Saturday after the fair closed on the grounds that after spending the day shopping and visiting and doing all the things at the fair, it was kind of a letdown to go home on Saturday night. So she organized huge parties that included everyone involved in the fair in any way – fair committee members, the business community, artists – plus pretty much everyone else in the Valley. Preparations began weeks in advance. She roped her daughters and our husbands into helping and we all, with mom and dad, poured everything we had into those parties. The lawns were mowed within an inch of their lives, the house cleaned, tables and chairs, plates, glasses and platters dusted off, almost an overwhelming amount of preparation went into those parties.  The first year of the fair parties, mom decided to make all the food at home from scratch. What better way to show off the culinary talents of the family, I guess? She only did that once because it was a huge pain and by the time the party arrived we were all completely exhausted. In the succeeding years, she had the meals catered. I know one year she had a pig roast, one year it was steaks grilled to order, seems like there was a year that she had an endless variety of finger foods. It was always delicious and often there were usually enough leftovers to take home to the kids.  Family and friends – to be honest, mostly family because she could push us around more than she did her friends - were pressed into service parking cars, making sure that the bar was stocked, filling glasses, checking on towels and toilet paper… It was all so much fun we didn’t mind the work.  When the 25th anniversary of the fair rolled around, the committee decided to have a party of their own and mom, a long time member, didn’t have her party so people could attend the fair’s party. And that was it. She died the next year, just days before the fair. A few years later, Jim and I decided to reintroduce the tradition of a fair party – on a much smaller scale. Friends would start rolling into town after lunch. The wives would join me uptown, leaving the kids at our house. The husbands would set up the kiddie pool and games in the yard, get the grill going and sit on the veranda drinking beer, telling stories, cooking and, presumably, keeping an eye on the kids. As my girlfriends and I made our way home, arms filled with packages, the husbands would have pitchers of sangria, margaritas, and one and only one memorable year martinis, ready to cool us down.  Some years it was too hot or buggy to stay outside. So we’d send the kids to the playroom in the basement after we all ate and sit all over the house talking. One of our closest friends is an extraordinary piano player. He’d usually start playing at some point and some years, if we had any energy left, we’d shove all the furniture into corners and dance. I started more than one Sunday morning at the fair hungover. But those days are long gone and I’m actually ok with that.  After two years of not having a fair, I’m really looking forward to its return this weekend. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, they say. There’s a lot of truth in that. At the moment, the weather forecast is promising a nice weekend so I will be uptown as much as I possibly can be. I hope I see you there. We have early deadlines coming up for the 4th of July. The deadline for news for the July 6 issue is Friday, July 1. All other deadlines move up 24 hours. Stay in touch. My phone number is (608) 574-3159 – call or text me anytime. You can also email me at homenewseditor@newspubinc.com  Visit our website at homenewsrv.com Get in touch with Gwen for sports or features at homenewssports@newspubinc.com. If you need a display ad, Dave Pronold can be reached at homenewssales@newspubinc.com or by calling him on his cell at (608) 588-4777.  Classified rates are $13 for the first 10 words, then 30¢ per word for each additional word. Call (608) 767-3655 or email classifieds@newspubinc.com  Email legal notices to legals@newspubinc.com Call the NewsPub central office at (608) 767-3655 for subscriptions and all other information Monday through Wednesday from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 12 noon, although afternoon hours can vary. Closed Fridays. Write to us at P.O. Box 286, Black Earth WI 53588.