Organizers of the annual Franklin County Field Days are calling on their community to help keep their gates open.With the fairground lease set to expire next year, organizers are doing their best to find a new venue before the clock runs out. Abigail Gagne is the director of marketing for the Field Days. She told NBC5 that she wants the fair to stay put. She said Highgate is the perfect venue, but the state wants them out by next summer.”We’ve been in communication with the state, and it just looks like there is no possibility of us staying here,” said Gagne. “If we cannot find a new location, we’re done.”Gagne said having to move the fair would not work either. “To have to start from scratch, that is a big deal and a lot of work,” she said.Kathy Coburn has helped make the event happen for the last 15 years. She said the best part about the fair is its size. Though smaller compared to others, the community spirit, she said, is bigger than all the rest.”I think we are feeling a little bit more community support knowing it is potentially our last year,” said Coburn.Organizers said you can show your support by signing their petition to save the Field Days. Every signature will get a free t-shirt.In a statement sent to NBC5, the Vermont Agency of Transportation said it has long encouraged the Franklin County Field Days to relocate and has said since the beginning that selling the land to the Field Days was not an option.”When the Vermont Agency of Transportation first leased property at the Franklin Country Airport to the Franklin County Field Days approximately 20 years ago, there was a clear agreement about restrictions on the use due to requirements of the Federal Aviation administration funding that AOT received to purchase the land and make capital improvements, including the runway rehabilitation and expansion projects that are underway now,” wrote Trini Brassard, the assistant director of the Policy, Planning, and Intermodal Development Division.The Field Days run through Sunday. A full list of events can be found on the Field Days website.
Organizers of the annual Franklin County Field Days are calling on their community to help keep their gates open.
With the fairground lease set to expire next year, organizers are doing their best to find a new venue before the clock runs out.
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Abigail Gagne is the director of marketing for the Field Days. She told NBC5 that she wants the fair to stay put. She said Highgate is the perfect venue, but the state wants them out by next summer.
“We’ve been in communication with the state, and it just looks like there is no possibility of us staying here,” said Gagne. “If we cannot find a new location, we’re done.”
Gagne said having to move the fair would not work either. “To have to start from scratch, that is a big deal and a lot of work,” she said.
Kathy Coburn has helped make the event happen for the last 15 years. She said the best part about the fair is its size. Though smaller compared to others, the community spirit, she said, is bigger than all the rest.
“I think we are feeling a little bit more community support knowing it is potentially our last year,” said Coburn.
Organizers said you can show your support by signing their petition to save the Field Days. Every signature will get a free t-shirt.
In a statement sent to NBC5, the Vermont Agency of Transportation said it has long encouraged the Franklin County Field Days to relocate and has said since the beginning that selling the land to the Field Days was not an option.
“When the Vermont Agency of Transportation first leased property at the Franklin Country Airport to the Franklin County Field Days approximately 20 years ago, there was a clear agreement about restrictions on the use due to requirements of the Federal Aviation administration funding that AOT received to purchase the land and make capital improvements, including the runway rehabilitation and expansion projects that are underway now,” wrote Trini Brassard, the assistant director of the Policy, Planning, and Intermodal Development Division.
The Field Days run through Sunday. A full list of events can be found on the Field Days website.
