Fisherman's Fair Set for Saturday at Ashawagh Hall

The 81st annual Fisherman’s Fair will take place Saturday at Ashawagh Hall, benefiting the Springs Improvement Society.

“Ashawagh Hall is the center of Springs,” said Kris Warrenburg, longtime Fair volunteer and the designer of this year’s commemorative t-shirt, “It’s the year’s biggest fundraising event for the community.”

Part of those funds are raised by the sale of the T-shirt Warrenburg designed. Describing the process, Warrenburg, a graphic designer by trade, explained, “Every year several artists provide designs for the T-shirts. Mine was picked and I actually had to redesign it to put in a local fish, so now it has a fluke on it.”

In addition to the T-shirts, there are also vendors who wil sell their wares, like posters commemorating the Springs Invitational Art Show, as well as crafts, art, and jewelry. There will also be a plant and garden sale as part of the fair. For children, there will be games and activities, pony rides and raffles.

Refreshments will also be sold from the various food booths with raw clams and oysters, clam pies, baked clams, mussels, hot dogs, corn and baked goods.

The Fisherman’s Fair will be running in conjunction with the 46th annual Artists of the Springs Invitational Art Show also housed in Ashawagh Hall. The first night of the show, which acts as a fundraiser for the hall, opened on Aug. 2. Warrenberg, who is on the art committee for the Springs Council, said, “Every year a new curator is chosen, with notable artists from the area being invited to participate.”

This year’s appointed curator is Jennifer Cross, an art teacher at the Ross School. On Aug. 17 at 4:30 p.m., Cross will give a curator’s talk leading visitors through the art show.

The night beforehand, the third annual Black and White Gala Ashawagh Honors at Ashawagh Hall will run from 5 to 8 p.m. Each year, the event honors local artists, and this year’s honorees are EleanorAllen Leaver and Ralph Carpentier. Admission is $15 per person, $25 per couple.

The Fisherman’s Fair is from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 780 Springs Fireplace Rd.