Ren Fair farewell leaves
visitors with sadness

By Kevin Limiti • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com

After 12 years, a tradition is ending with the close of the Medieval Renaissance Fair in Montgomery County, just over the Otsego County border.

The fair took place Saturday, Aug. 21 and Sunday, Aug. 22.

The Medieval Renaissance Fair at the Windfall Dutch Barn is like walking through a time portal that contained pirates, knights, bagpipers and kings and queens, all frolicking around.

There were archery games and ax throwing as well as musical performances from the Paddy Nappers, Bailey and Quinn, the Happy Haegs and more in the wooden barn. Vendors were selling their wares and there were psychics willing to sell astrology maps or tell a person’s fortune. Food was provided by the Tyron Inn.

However, this may be the last renaissance fair at the Windfall Dutch Barn.

“It’s been a great 12 years,” said Gary Barrett, who is a board member of the Windfall Dutch Barn and organizes the medieval fair. “It’s been really fun.”

Barrett said although the pirate crew, the Paddy Nappers, is interested in taking over the operation, nothing is official. He said the event is ending because the group needs more help running it.

The event started as something the board members held privately, once a month at the house, which they held as close to the full moon as possible.

“We needed something to bring to the barn, so another board member asked ‘why don’t you do what you do at the house at the barn?’” Barrett said.

Barrett said he wished they could continue but they didn’t think they were going to be able to by themselves anymore. “If only we weren’t getting so old and we had a younger crew,” he added.

Meanwhile, a wedding took place on Aug. 21 with members of the crew getting married aboard the pirate ship. Dressed in pirate regalia, Linda and Chuck Matthews maintained character as they talked about sailing the high seas as a newly married couple.

“We will be pirating till we can’t anymore,” Matthews said. “We might spend the next week shipwrecked at our house on purpose.”