KENNEBUNK — Blueberry season is in full swing, and over the weekend, members of the First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church in Kennebunk celebrated it in style.
Equipped with an arsenal of baked goods, raffle items and vendors peddling their wares, the church held its 35th annual Blueberry Fair on Saturday, drawing fans of the fruit as well as parishioners and community members looking to add a little home-grown flavor to their mid-summer celebrations.
Jacky Peters, a member of the church committee tasked with organizing the event, said the popular downtown festival was the culmination of hours of volunteer efforts at giving the berry its proper respect, with many of those volunteers now veterans of the yearly July staple.
“It’s a church-wide effort,” said Peters. “Everyone pitches in something. At this point, we sort of know what works and what doesn’t.”
What works, said volunteer Dennis Anderson, is an all-hands-on-deck approach that results in a myriad of pies, muffins and cakes ”“ as well as local vendors, selling craft items as diverse as scarves, homemade wooden birdhouses, knit sweaters and pottery.
Many of the vendors, said Anderson, have set up stations during past blueberry festivals, and keep coming back because of the success they’ve had in establishing contact with an enthusiastic church community.
“You work a lot, and get tired, but it’s a good tired,” said Anderson.
While the original festival was conceived more than two generations ago and suffered from a temporary hiatus, the current incarnation ”“ the one that has lasted for 35 consecutive years ”“ has grown and expanded, said Peters. Originally, the fair consisted of a simple chowder luncheon for members of the church. Now, though the chowder luncheon still remains, the event is a draw for the downtown, and serves as a showcase for the culinary talents of its congregation.
Members of that congregation, including Vicki Adams and Mary Anne Chandler, spent much of the morning slicing and arranging more than 50 diverse blueberry pies, which differed in both preparation and presentation.
While some pies kept their contents under a veil of crust, others left the blueberries exposed on top, enclosed in an open shell of crust on the sides and bottom of the dish.
“It’s very interesting, the differences in all of these pies,” said Chandler.
One creative concoction featured an exposed core of blueberries, dotted on the top with bits of crust cut in the shape of stars.
Adams said she is a veteran of the festival, and has been witness to its evolution over the years.
“I’ve been involved probably since the first year,” she said. “In the old days, people from the church did all the crafts. Now everybody works, so at some point we decided to give the crafters a chance.”
Those crafters sat mostly in the shade of their tents, as curious wanderers migrated from station to station, enjoying comparatively mild weather on the church’s front lawn.
But it was on the inside, where pies waited for eager taste buds, that the heart of the festival lay.
“Everybody pulls together,” said Anderson. “It’s a nice sight.”
— Staff Writer Jeff Lagasse can be contacted at 282-1535, Ext. 319, or at jlagasse@journaltribune.com.
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