Historical Society hosts annual Craft Fair

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By Katrina Margolis
Hometown Weekly Reporter

The town of Walpole is no stranger to holiday cheer. Nearly 700 people came out to the town tree lighting, illustrating the strong local commitment to tradition and holiday festivities. This year, though, there was a new tradition in town: The Historical Society Craft Fair. This year heralded the first annual craft fair and open house, hosted by The Historical Society. Not only did vendors come out to provide their wares amongst the intricate decorations of the society house, but Mr. Charles Dickens was in attendance to read “A Christmas Carol” in the evening.

Susan Anderson, the curator of the Historical Society, explained how the idea came to be. “Last year, Annie, well, she loves to decorate, and she has a friend who likes to decorate even more. And one day, they came in and said ‘Why don’t we decorate the house?’” she related. “So they ran out and bought a fake Christmas tree and set it up, and they started going nuts decorating.” These decorations made a return this year, and the house was as festive and cheerful as you could imagine. Susan continued, “We got the place decorated, and Annie’s boyfriend is a reenactor for the Civil War, Revolutionary War - whatever you want. Give him a job and he’ll reenact it! And so he said, ‘Why don’t I come in that night after they’re decorating? I can be Mr. Dickens.’” Driving up to the fair on Saturday, Mr. Dickens was roaming around outside of the Historical Society, tipping his hat to those driving by.

Last year was a spur-of-the-moment event. “We put a sign out and had a few chairs and four people came in, but everyone was having a good time, so we said ‘How about next year, we do a crafts fair along with it,’” Susan explained. “We decorated before the vendors came so that people could walk around and look.”

Mr. Dickens made a reappearance and read “A Christmas Carol” once again in the evening. “Next year, he’ll do something different,” Susan said, “but this year, he’s reading.”

Despite the assertion that the fair was spur-of-the-moment, the event came together beautifully, perfectly capturing the holiday spirit.