Making the Oley Valley Community Fair happen requires a lot of coordination by a dedicated army of volunteers and passionate participants.
Getting everyone on the same page is paramount, and organizers of the annual event do that is by presenting people with what they need to know about entering a flower arrangement, a goat or a pumpkin pie in competition.
It’s all wrapped up in a glossy package known as the fair book, a 180-page publication that is mailed to thousands of households in the Oley Valley and made available online.
The book lists rules and regulations for exhibitors, including 4-H and vocational students, to reference how their entries are to be displayed and judged, along with corresponding entry fees.
Entry forms for other contests, information about who oversees individual departments, lists of volunteers and a complete schedule of events are also featured in the book.
But the publication is not all lists and rules. It also includes photos from previous fairs and dozens of pages of advertisements from Berks County businesses.
“It’s a lot of work, but it’s very rewarding,” said Shirley Moyer, chair of the fair book committee, who has been overseeing its publication for the last four decades. “There are people who consider it a national holiday when that fair book arrives in their mailbox.”
Moyer said the committee strives to send the book out by the Fourth of July so people have plenty of time to prepare for the annual event. She recalled one year when there was a printing issue that delayed the release of the book by a month — her phone was ringing off the hook with calls from anxious people wondering where it was.
The book proves to continue to be very popular, which is why fair officials are so dedicated to continuing its publication.
Many other fairs across the state and nation are opting to cease publication of their books because of high printing costs, but Moyer said that is not something Oley Fair organizers are willing to do.
To help cover some of the costs of the expensive endeavor, the book relies on advertisements for local businesses. The committee charges a membership fee of $1 to get on the mailing list to help defray costs.
“We tried to increase the fee to $2 one year and I thought a fight was going to break out,” she said. “So we have stuck with $1 all these years even though it doesn’t cover much of the printing costs.”
Despite those financial challenges, the fair committee is dedicated to keeping the book going. This year the committee published 1,530 books and sent out 1,288.
“I think we would have a war around here if we stopped it,” she said with a chuckle. “It is very costly to produce, but we know there are a lot of people who would be really upset if we just put everything online. They are precious treasures for some.”
Those treasures date back all the way to the very first fair in 1947.
“There are a couple of us who have the whole set of books — I’m one of them,” she said. “Most of the books came from estate sales of people who were involved in helping to organize the fair over the years.”
There is also a complete set in the fair office.
Moyer said its publication and promotional materials are often voted on by her peers as the best in the state.
They have taken home first-place prizes for the book several years by the Pennsylvania State Association of County Fairs. The group comes together each January to exchange ideas and learn from each other about how to improve their events.
“It makes me feel proud knowing that I can play a little part in keeping our fair going,” she said. “We are very, very fortunate to have the support of our community. There are over 100 fairs in Pennsylvania, and not all are as lucky as we are to have the number of volunteers and supporters that we have here.”