After graduating from Keene State College in 1989, Sullivan worked for the National 4-H Council on their international programs in Washington, D.C., which enabled her to spend six months in Finland. Interesting as it was, she wanted something more fulfilling; that desire led her to the Peace Corps. There she was classified as an agriculture volunteer and had to learn French to communicate. Her first stop was a three-year stint in Senegal, West Africa.
Senegal RPCV Amy Sullivan is off in South Africa as a member of the Peace Corps
A Bridgewater tradition
Country fair's 54th year promises more great food and attractions
By Kristen Dirzius
[Excerpt]
At 14, Amy Sullivan showed cattle at the Bridgewater Country Fair. Now 38, she's off in South Africa as a member of the Peace Corps.
Though halfway around the world, she's found she has an internal calendar that reminds her when the fair is coming. That feeling in her gut says the fair is this weekend, and she's absolutely right.
"There are a lot of people there (in Bridgewater) who have never missed one, literally, and some of us who can remember where we have been each time we missed it," she said in an interview via the Internet. "It really is that important of a community (and in my case family) activity."
Amy Sullivan, now a member of the Peace Corps in Mozambique, used to show cattle at the fair.
The first time Sullivan missed the fair she was heartbroken.
"I was a teenager and had gone to Europe for a summer 4-H youth exchange program," she recalled. "Cathi Sullivan (no relation) was the fair secretary then as well (as now), and compiled a scrapbook of pictures of my family and friends from the fair and sent it to me. It was fantastic and I still have it somewhere."
The fair is a great attraction, not only because of the great food, but because of the entertainment. A Paul Bunyan lumberjack show, karate demonstrations, The Star Family Circus and Thrill Show, as well as live music, are just some of this year's highlights.
And then there's all the animals on display. They have newborn piglets, sheep and of course, cows.
As a youngster, Amy Sullivan would follow her brothers to local 4-H dairy clubs. She showed her first calf in the summer of 1977.
"The routine of showing cattle at fairs was in our family," she said. "My dad had cattle when he was young – long before I started – and my nieces are continuing the tradition now."
After graduating from Keene State College in 1989, Sullivan worked for the National 4-H Council on their international programs in Washington, D.C., which enabled her to spend six months in Finland. Interesting as it was, she wanted something more fulfilling; that desire led her to the Peace Corps. There she was classified as an agriculture volunteer and had to learn French to communicate. Her first stop was a three-year stint in Senegal, West Africa.
"There were definitely "OhmygodwhathaveIdone?" moments, but my work ended up being very satisfying," she said. Part of that work involved helping women rice farmers figure out how to grow more food for their families.
Now based at the Africa Regional office in Pretoria, South Africa, she is leading a project to make sure new water-use policies do not hurt small scale farmers in rural areas.
Speaking of rural, Sullivan still maintains close ties with Bridgewater. "My family is still there; friends are still there. I believe that being from there makes me better at what I do now because I have always been aware of the connections that we all have to each other. Small towns in Connecticut are not so different than those in Florida or Senegal or Zimbabwe for that matter. It just takes a while to realize it."
Sullivan holds a master's in Agricultural Education and Extension, and a Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Ecology. She feels the road to those degrees and her current position started back in Bridgewater. Caring for cattle when she was young was hard work, she said, but the experience helped her in life, and she says the Bridgewater Fair will always hold a special place in her heart.
