By Sharron Luttrell
Exactly half a century has passed since Mendon’s first annual country fair, and while COVID and bad weather sidelined it a few times and organizers have recently narrowed its scope, the fair remains a local tradition and signature event for the Lions Club.
The rebranded Lions Club Craft and Vendor Fair, will be held Saturday, Oct. 10 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Clough Elementary School gymnasium and cafeteria at 10 North Ave.
For most of its history, the fair was held outdoors and featured 4H exhibits, kids’ activities and live entertainment alongside crafts and vendor booths. But unpredictable weather and other considerations convinced organizers to scale back the event and move it inside.
“For our first time doing it that way, I think it went really well,” Mendon Lions Club Secretary Kathleen Bucchino said of last year’s first-ever indoor Mendon Lions Club Fair.
This year’s fair will include 50 vendors and crafters as well as community organizations. The Lions will offer eye screening for children, information about Lions Club initiatives and a booth to create greeting cards for veterans. Club members will serve up hot dogs and hamburgers while the Sweet Wise Ice Cream truck and Southwick Zoo’s Coffee Safari will be stationed outside.
The $5 admission will fund a 50/50 raffle, which last year netted one lucky winner more than $500, Bucchino said.
A second chance to win big on Oct. 10 — while enjoying the spectacle of a firefighter dropping as many as 300 golf balls from the top of a ladder truck — is the Lions Club-sponsored Third Annual Fire Truck Golf Ball Drop at the Mendon Fire Headquarters, 8 Morrison Drive. Purchase a golf ball for $10 and win $1,000 if it lands closest to the hole. The fire department will host an open house that day from 12-3 p.m., with the golf ball drop taking place at 3 p.m.
Proceeds from the fair and the golf ball drop help pay for Mendon Lions charitable activities. While the Lions’ main focus is on vision- and hearing-related causes, the Mendon club also offers college scholarships each year, purchases Christmas gifts for local families in need, provides disaster relief, and supports the Mendon food pantry and other local causes. Last year, the state’s five Lions Club districts donated $900,000 toward eye research, giving six Boston hospitals $150,000 each, Bucchino said.
The Lions are also preparing to launch its Big Ticket Raffle. A $20 book of six tickets gives you a shot at four cash prizes ranging from $250 to $1,000.
“People think we collect eyeglasses and that’s it, but we do so much,” Bucchino said.
Photo top of page: Live music at an earlier Mendon Lions Club Country Fair (courtesy Kathleen Bucchino).
