DURHAM – Saturday, May 17, will be a day for Durham.
The First Congregational Church, the Eureka Community Center and the Durham Historical Society all will come together for fun and fundraisers, on the same day the town conducts its annual Bulky Waste Day collection.
Food will be a common theme at each location, but there also will be music, an art show and plants for sale. Margaret Wentworth, treasurer of the Durham Historical Society, said that one event will feed off another.
“People come from one to the other, and we get better results,” Wentworth said.
The First Congregational Church, United Church of Christ, at 773 Royalsborough Road, will hold its second Totally Awesome Craft and Vendor Fair. The fair will feature local crafters, music, a silent auction, a luncheon and a food sale. It will be held rain or shine, from 8 a.m.-3 p.m.
“We timed it with Bulky Waste Day,” said Bettie Kettell, chairwoman of the fair. “Many people will be in town and will be lined up to take their bulky waste to a site that’s fairly near the church. The Eureka Center, which is right next door, always has a plant sale.”
Church keyboardist Jeff Chipman, a professional musician, and his family will provide Totally Awesome music. Chipman’s wife Valerie sings, and their daughter Larissa Smith plays guitar.
“They’re an amazing family,” Kettell said. “They’re very talented, all of them.”
The fair will offer coffee and muffins in the morning. Local crafters, vendors and farmers will be on hand. Pineland Farms cheese from New Gloucester, which retails for $12 a pound, Kettell said, will be available for $10 because Pineland provides it to the church wholesale. Frozen apple pies also will be sold for $10.
Grilled cheese sandwiches, made with a slice of American cheese and a slice of Pineland cheddar, will be served for lunch, with a piece of apple pie for dessert.
Kettell said that the church is hoping for a repeat of last year’s fair.
“It was so successful,” she said. “I was just so excited, the way people were responding to it, it was totally awesome. Our organist is just a great musician.”
Community organizations that use the Eureka Community Center will contribute toward the Open House and Spring Plant Sale, which always coincides with Bulky Waste Day. All proceeds are funneled to upkeep of the Community Center.
The plant sale, which is scheduled for 8:30 a.m.-2 p.m., also will include lunch provided by the Durham Youth Explorers junior firefighters group, baked goods from Girl Scouts Junior Troop 72, and volunteer waste pickup by Cub Scouts Pack 145.
“It’s all part of their contributions to the community,” said Anita Sellars, a member of the Community Center Committee.
Nancy Decker and Pearl Scribner also serve on the committee.
Sellars said that vegetable seedlings, annuals and perennials each will be offered in the sale.
“And we have wonderful hanging baskets,” she said.
The Durham Youth Explorers will sell hot dogs, chips, soda, water, coffee and doughnuts from the Community Center kitchen.
To schedule a pick up of bulky waste items from the Cub Scouts, residents must have their items reviewed ahead of time, and tires must be prepaid at the town office. Contact Sellars at 353-6217 for details. A $25 donation is asked for each load.
As always, residents who choose to bring their own bulky waste to the field outside the Community Center can do so. Trucks from Pine Tree Waste will be there to accept the bulky waste from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. More information regarding what will be accepted in the collection is available from the town office or on the town website.
Sellars echoed Wentworth’s comment regarding the unifying influence the day has in this rural town.
“Somebody can come to Durham on the 17th and find all kinds of things to do,” Sellars said.
The Durham Historical Society, which is the former Union Church and Old Town Hall, is located across Royalsborough Road. The society is holding an art show and baked goods sale, from 10 a.m.-1 p.m.
Wentworth said that although the art will not be for sale, some local artists might make arrangements to sell their works.
The Durham Historical Society will have open houses on the third Saturday of the month in June, July and August, from 1-3 p.m. Meetings are scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on the second Tuesday of the month, beginning in May and extending possibly through October, Wentworth said.
Pie makers around the table are, from left, Bettie Kettell, Rhoda Demchak, Cookie Smith and Peggy Brick and in back, Sandie Bowie and Brenda Herling. The group was making apple pies for last year’s Totally Awesome Craft and Vendor Fair at First Congregational Church in Durham, and is doing so again this year. Send questions/comments to the editors.
