Meet Me at the Corner
A former newspaper reporter who has lived in Franklin for more than 40 years, Marjorie is active in several Franklin and Hales Corners organizations.
St. Martin's Fair: Side Notes
My husband and I live walking distance from the St. Martin's Fair, so we're very much aware of the festivities and added traffic on Labor Day weekend. We aren't crazy about crowds, so we usually avoid it altogether,though sometimes we'll walk down in the evening to see what's going on. Some years back Judy Roberts organized a booth for the Friends of the Franklin Library to sell dried flowers and pumpkins, and I'd usually help with that.
Franklin author Doug Schmidt has some excellent photographs of the fair in his book, Images of America: Franklin by Arcadia Publishers. I'm not able to reprint the photos, but you can click on this link to read more about the fair and other interesting facts about Franklin history:
http://books.google.com/books?id=K68yahRAzFEC&lpg=PA52&ots=Qhd-JIj0nB&dq=%22hales%20corners%20fair%22&pg=PP1
As most people in the Franklin - Hales Corners area know, the St. Martins Fair evolved from a monthly stock fair, held from 1871 to 1958 on Forest Home Avenue from Highway 100 north to Grange Avenue. In 1958 when Hales Corners could no longer accommodate the fair, it moved to St. Martin's.
On the Franklin Historical Society website, I found the following: "The St. Martins Road remains a focal point of a community tradition when it hosts over 100,000 visitors every Labor Day weekend for an annual fair. Originally established as a venue for farmers to sell tools, equipment and fresh produce, the Labor Day Fair originated along Hwy. 100 in Hales Corners in 1865, but through the leadership of Franklin farmer Walter Barbian, it was moved to St. Martins in 1958. Changing times have transformed the annual event into more of a family festival." (http://www.franklinhistory.net)
In my web browsing, I Iearned of another St. Martin's Fair which this year will be held from September 11-16 in Mendrisio, Switzerland. On that website, I learned:
"For about 400 years, St. Martin's Fair has been held on November 11 around the church bearing his name. Thousands of visitors from the entire region stroll through the long lines of booths, where shoppers can find dried fish, roast chestnuts, various sweets, as well as toys and clothing. Once a visitor has entered the church yard, and after the children have amused themselves on the merry-go-round and the bumper cars, it is practically compulsory to enter the church and pay homage to the Saint by offering him a candle. Originally the fair was strictly an agricultural event offering the farmers the chance to show their wares and trade livestock. Even today, Saturday's activities are dedicated to this purpose." http://www.myswitzerland.com/en/home/summervacations/summer-regions/summer-destinations/holiday-destinations-in-switzerland/mendrisiotto-lower-ceresio.html
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