Travels With Curley: Festival Time

For us, coming back to Jordan meant coming for the annual Jordan Fall Festival. First, a little backstory. Jordan is a small town of about 4000 people located west of Syracuse. It really took off with the construction of the Eire Barge Canal which came through the town in 1819 and then was revitalized in 1890. The canal and the commerce it brought were the vital blood of the town. At one time, there was a local factory that just made wheelbarrows for the construction of the canal. Many sections of the canal were hand dug, although there are old photos of steam shovels being used in later construction. I used to own and live in a house that was a boarding house when the canal was built. Later the New York Central Railroad came through town and the construction of that boosted business. But when the New York State Thruway came along, the town decided that they really didn't want the commercialism that might attend having an exit right on the edge of town. That really slowed the growth rate of the town, which turned out to be good and bad. The lack of commercialism has led to a quiet, small town atmosphere with historical overtones that is quite pleasant. It has also held down the ability of the town to fund the programs that are part of the life of the town. Thus there is a Community Council that administers the many popular programs and it's funding is driven by the annual fall festival.

So, all of the various organizations come together to man the booths and sell the food and raise the money.

It's a combination of carnival rides, crafts, food and entertainment that is typical of many small town affairs across the country. But for us it's special because we participated in it for so many years, taking our places in the booths and enjoying the local delicacies. One of which are the fish sandwiches. This is real fish, folks, haddock from cold Northern waters. Not the ubiquitous flounder that we find all over the South.

And they have fresh made doughnuts, or what are otherwise called fried cakes, and fresh pressed apple cider that disappeared before I could get a picture. And they had sandwiches of sliced cheese and baked ham piled high on rye bread. These fellows were had to put to keep up with the demand.