Scenes from the annual Spring Fair

The Chamber of Commerce of the Moriches hosted its annual Spring Fair in Center Moriches on Sunday, June 8.

The fair began on Main Street at 10 a.m. and concluded at 5 p.m.  During the event, numerous stalls operated by local businesses and organizations promoted their wares and services to curious passersby.  The Spring Fair highlighted local commerce and festively marked the beginning of summer in the Center Moriches area.

“The Spring Fair began around 1990 and was created to bring people into our community and into our merchants’ establishments,” Chamber of Commerce of the Moriches corresponding secretary Melissa Molloy said.  “It has become one of the most looked-forward-to events for community members, vendors, and business owners. Every Spring Fair coincides with the very much looked-forward-to Strawberry Festival, hosted by the Center Moriches Fire Department.”

The Strawberry Festival was hosted at the Center Moriches Fire Department building, located alongside Main Street.  Fair attendees could drop by to both devour strawberry shortcake and participate in a raffle.

“This is our Company 1 fundraiser,” Dennis O’Brien said as he manned a table in front of the festival.  “We have donations from Druek’s [True Value].  Nettie’s [Country Bakery] donated the cake.”

One of the stalls participating in the Spring Fair was Wave Creations, which is a “beach lifestyle company,” according to star operator Madison Governale.

“We design all of our clothing based off our love of the beach,” Governale said.  “Our designs are [of a] vintage aesthetic [and] Long Island-based.”

Another stall was operated by Miss Amy’s Preserves, which offered various jars of condiments to passersby.

“I make jam and mustard… and I have local honey,” stall operator Amy Acierno said.  “I’ve done this show many times.  I love Center Moriches; it’s lovely here… I’ve been doing this for over 20 years. I love coming out and talking to the people.”

Meanwhile, the stall Tranquil Butterflies displayed handcrafted butterfly-themed mobiles to fair attendees.

“They’re hand-painted wood and exotic paper butterflies,” stall operator Kellie Hendrickson said.  “I describe them as whimsical, cheerful, [and] very colorful.  I made most of these during the lockdown.”

The Center Moriches Free Public Library also hosted its own stall at the Spring Fair.  The stall offered free books, pins and a raffle, and it also displayed the library’s “book bike.”

“We like to get out into the community as soon as we can,” stall operator Margie DeCaro said.  “A lot of families don’t know what services we offer—we’re not just books anymore.  We want people to know the library is more than just books at this point.”