By Christina Abt
Buffalo, NY – Okay folks, time to melt your butter and rev up your salt shakers. The Eden Corn Festival is about to begin.
This is the 43rd year for the Southtowns country fair and beginning this Thursday through Sunday, people from across Western New York and beyond will alight on the Town of Eden to enjoy amusement rides, a softball tournament, a parade, a craft show, a car show, live music and dancing, chicken barbeque, french fries, homemade soups and pies and ... oh yes ... some of the sweetest corn grown in these United States.
While the corn festival is remarkable for it's longevity and it's wide ranging appeal, it is also a landmark event in that it is totally organized and produced by volunteers. There's no singular festival manager or multi tiered employee group responsible for the 43 years of corn fest success. Rather there is a long running line of men and women who have given tirelessly to the corn festival for the singular reason that they love the event and the town it represents.
No one individual better personifies this volunteer spirit than long time Eden resident, Bill Faircloth. Bill is a 76 year young retiree who has been an intergral part of the Corn Festival organization for 23 years. The last 10 of those years Bill has carried the title of Executive Director, overseeing all festival details from set up to break down, and every troubleshooting issue in between.
Watching Bill undertake his Corn Festival duties it is clear that this is a labor of love for the handsomely youthful senior. Each day of the four day event he is one of the first to arrive and one of the last to leave, constantly roving the fairgrounds to check in with vendors and keep a watchful eye on festival attendees and events. He wears a corn festival hat year round and is always ready to discuss new ideas for next year's festival, taking great pride in the ever increasing numbers of Western New Yorkers who attend and enjoy Eden's country style fair. Anyone in town involved with this long running event will tell you without hesitation that Bill Faircloth is Mr. Eden Corn Fest.
This year however, there will be a significant change in the corn festival administration. Following knee surgery and some minor health issues, Bill has decided that it's time to take a view from afar and resign his corn fest duties. It was a tough decision when he made the choice last winter. It's even tougher now that the corn festival is up and running. Yet true to form, Bill is still wearing his corn fest hat and talking up the event wherever he goes.
In recognition of Bill's long running dedication and contribution to the Eden Corn Festival, he will be honored with a special presentation at this year's opening day ceremonies. There will be speeches noting his contribution to the continual growth and success of this once simple, small town country fair. There will be stories and laughter shared over details of his infamous deal making skills. There will be tears shed in acknowledgement of the inevitable passage of time and this changing of the corn festival guard. And then there will be four glourious days of food, fun and festival entertainment, just as Bill Faircloth envisioned, planned for and worked towards, for more than two decades of his life.
So this weekend if you're at the Eden Corn Festival and you see a good looking guy with twinkling blue eyes wearing a Eden Corn Fest ball cap, stop and ask if he's Mr. Eden Corn Festival. If he answers with a broad smile and a hearty yep! take a moment to shake his hand and thank him for giving so much of his life and his love to one of our most favored Western New York summer traditions...
...because really, that's all he's ever wanted in return.
"Heart and Soul" with Commentator Christina Abt is a monthly feature of WBFO News.
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