43
Historic Village at fair is 'a labor of love'
By Kalea Hall
CANFIELD
Carri Bookwalter had tears in her eyes as she watched her longtime friend C. Gilbert “Gibby” James walk up to Canfield Fair’s Gate 7 named to honor him.
James, 91, a fair board member for more than 25 years, had Gate 7 dedicated to him Friday morning surrounded by his family, friends and admirers in front of his fair favorite — the Western Reserve Village.
Gibby’s main job was to bring in furniture,” Bookwalter said.
James gave the buildings in the village life in the furniture pieces he chose that were all reminiscent of the times during the 1800s.
“He worked very hard at that,” Bookwalter said.
But to James it wasn’t just him.
“No one person is responsible for the village,” he told the crowd Friday. “I am honored.”
James was honored during a special time for the village — its 50th anniversary and the 100th anniversary of the Youngstown Sheet and Tube Train No. 301 that sits by the Railroad Station on the grounds.
His daughter, Mary James Lipinsky; son, Carl James; brother, grandson and other family members were all watched their dad accept his honor. Lipinski still remembers going antiquing with her father to find items for the village.
“It’s a great honor.” Lipinski said of the Gate 7 dedication. “He has given of his time so much.”
He always taught his children, and others, that it was important to give back to the community. He is a well-known Mahoning Valley man with a lengthy resume of boards he has been on throughout the years.
“Gibby has done a fantastic job in spearheading the conservation of the village and we have been able to carry that on today,” said Timm Schreiber, the fair board director in charge of tickets, gates and the Western Reserve Village.
Inside the church, the only structure built and not found for the village, there is a picture of James and Bob Rose, who also helped build the village.
“We worked real hard together,” Bookwalter said. “I was so thrilled for him. He deserves it.”
Bookwalter came to be a part of the Western Reserve Village after she formed the Holborn Herb Growers in 1982 and asked to plant flowers around the village grounds. Before that, in 1965 it was decided to bring something to the south end of the fairgrounds. That something was the Western Reserve Village.
Buildings in the village all have a unique story.
The Elisha Whittlesey Law Record Office, for example, was built in the 1840s and brought to the fairgrounds from the Village Green in 1965 as the first building moved to the grounds for the village. Visitors will notice a brick ceiling inside the lawyer’s office, which he had because of his fear of fire destroying his legal books.
The Log Cabin is the oldest building in the village. Logs were cut for the Butler Township cabin in 1829. It also came to the grounds in 1965.
Train No. 301 was purchased for $1 by the late James V. Marter. It was brought to the fairgrounds in the 1980s.
Fair board members searched for a church as the final piece to the village for more than 10 years before it was decided the church would be built to look old fashioned. The church was built to look like the Old Congregational Church that stood on the Village Green in Canfield.
Many who come to the fair seem to have a connection to a building within the village. In addition to the buildings mentioned above, there’s The Country Store, Carriage Museum, Doctor’s Office, Railroad Watchman’s Tower, The Entrance Building, The School House, Library, The Blacksmith Shop and The Railroad Station.
Although she has a memory bank full of good times with James and all of the others devoted to the village, Bookwalter recalls her fondest memory being the times she spent with them sitting on the bench at The Country Store overlooking the village.
“We would all say: ‘What a beautiful place,’” she said. “It’s just a labor of love.”