Fryeburg Fair Booth

Through the years, a group of women organized first as “The Circle,” then later in the 1940s as “The Alliance,” took responsibility for the cleaning and maintenance of the New Church building. Fund-raising to cover those costs was always part of their mission.

In the Fall of 1953, the Alliance, led by president Ola-Mae Wheaton, supplied and managed a food booth at the Western Maine Agricultural Fair, now known simply as “Fryeburg Fair.” The Alliance made a profit of $324 in one week of their first Fair.

Since then, all people within our church, young and old, along with relatives and community friends, have donated their cooking abilities and time so unselfishly that, today, the New Church Booth at “The Fair” is our largest source of income.

Our reputation as “the place to go to get good, home-cooked food,” prepared under clean conditions, necessitates the need for 1,000+ volunteer hours for the nine day period the booth is in operation. Those hours are over and above the time spent in the church kitchen, preparing baked beans, chili, and pies.

Not only does our Fair Booth continue to be a major source of funding for us, but it also serves as the heart of our church every year for a week in October, when we welcome friends - old and new - to enjoy our hospitality, our famous “Fayah Burgahs,” and our commitment to the hard work on which our future depends.