The Start of Something Big

A lot has changed in the last 35 years, but one thing that hasn't is the West Islip Bicentennial Committee's commitment to bring the community close together. Each fall, the Bicentennial Committee holds the West Islip Country Fair. This year, it will be held on September 26 (rain date of October 3), but its roots can be traced back to 1976, the year of the America's Bicentennial celebration.

In 1975, West Islip community member Helen Schick wanted to do some community-oriented that would honor the country's birthday that was coming up the following year. "We had a meeting at the library and everyone talked about car shows out east. We decided to have our own [fair]," recalled Schick.

At the time, there were 12 schools in West Islip. Each school was assigned a state and the PTA council took a state to represent each of the 13 original states in the union and a committee was formed to plan the celebration. 

For the bicentennial celebration, the committee held a fair, a pageant and a parade. The fair been going ever since and is held on the last Sunday of September on the grounds of the West Islip Library.

"To me, it's like a second Christmas. When the day is over, it's like the day after Christmas," said Maria Pecorale, who is now the chairperson of the fair. "Everybody had their thing and somehow it comes all together."

Throughout the years, the fair was only missed once due to rain. It even took place in 1985, the year Hurricane Gloria bombarded Long Island. "[The hurricane] was on a Saturday and we all went over to the library. We put the trees that had fallen down into packages. Our properties were decimated but we were all at the library, taking care of the library," said Schick.

Schick and those that put in the time to make certain the fair takes place each year, including Pecorale, Pat Rich, Nancy Donohue, Maria McNamee and Kay Manley, find the country fair is a source of pride for the community. "My reason for starting it was twofold - to prove the community could work together and to put West Islip on the map. Also, I love history," Schick said."Thiry-five years later, we're still going strong. We had a lot of fun."

The fair has grown to now include over 300 craft vendors, a wide variety of foods and plenty of entertainment for kids and families. "It's one thing to have a dream, but unless you have good people working with you, it won't come true," Schick said.