Once a seasonally vibrant site for agriculture, concerts, horse racing and other dynamic community events, the Great Barrington Fairgrounds site has sat dormant for the majority the past 35 years.
In December 2012, the 57-acre property was purchased by Sheffield couple, Bart and Janet Elsbach. Now a volunteer-driven, not-for-profit organization, the mission of GBFG is to preserve and restore the environmental health of the Fairgrounds site and to provide agricultural, educational, recreational and other beneficial opportunities to the local community and to visitors. Great Barrington Fairgrounds will present a banquet “barn-raising” brunch on Sunday, September 21st at 12:00pm at Gedney Farm in New Marlborough, Mass.
Janet Elsbach writes and teaches writing at Community Access to the Arts and with her husband, co-founded the non-profit organization that is working to rally the community around revitalizing the Great Barrington Fairgrounds. She joins us now along with Leslie Miller. Leslie and her husband, Brad Wagstaff and have been the owners of Gedney Farm – the location of the barn-raising brunch - since 1980.