Fort Erie Conservation Club’s Fall Fair keeps growing in 10th year
September 30, 2026 at 3:53 AM
The Fort Erie Conservation Club held its 10th annual Fall Fair in Stevensville on September 26, but organizer Donna Hall struggled to find enough club members to staff it.
Hall told Fort Erie Radio that more visitors and vendors have come every year since she took over the fair around 2016, when it was an indoor craft show.
“For us, it’s a fundraiser, but it really isn’t a fundraiser,” said Hall. “We’re not in it to make a lot of money.”
Children play on an inflatable at the Fort Erie Conservation Club’s Fall Fair in Stevensville, where pony rides and face painting were also free for kids. Credit: Andrew Hawlitzky | Fort Erie RadioHall was short volunteers at one booth this year until she contacted Greater Fort Erie Secondary School and got two students to cover it.
Many of the Conservation Club’s regular volunteers are older, but Hall hopes younger people attending the Fall Fair will return as members or helpers.
Cash donations and money from Elvis impersonator Gordie McNeil’s February show at the club paid for the fair’s children’s activities, Hall said.
Former club president Connie Charron started the fair as an indoor craft show more than 10 years ago. Hall took it over around 2016 and said several vendors have returned every year since those early shows.
“People didn’t know we were here,” Hall said. “We were like this silent little jewel.”
This year, the club added a smaller bouncy house for younger children beside its larger inflatable obstacle course and slide.
Students from the Fort Erie School of Music performed at the front and back of the club’s building for the second year in a row.
Grandma Jean, 81, and her husband, Grandpa James, sell blankets and quilts at their final craft show, the Fort Erie Conservation Club’s Fall Fair in Stevensville. Credit: Andrew Hawlitzky | Fort Erie RadioGrandma Jean, 81, who asked to be identified only by that name, has sold her quilts and baby blankets at the fair since Charron invited her to the original indoor craft show.
“We’ve been friends ever since, but we only see each other once a year,” Jean said of Charron.
This year’s fair was the last craft show for Jean and her husband, who goes by Grandpa James. James said they are retiring, but the couple plans to keep sewing and quilting at home.
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About The Author
Andrew Hawlitzky
Andrew is a Niagara community journalist who has covered everything from local politics to annual festivals and breaking news. He works to make local news a platform where community voices lead the conversation. "If you don't like the news, go out and make some!"
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