GREENFIELD — Summer love isn’t just found in youth, it’s also found by the young at heart.
The scent of fried dough wafted throughout the Franklin County Fair, Saturday, as bumper cars slammed into each other, ice cream melted from cones, children shrieked with delight and love-struck couples wandered past arm in arm.
One of those couples near the bumper cars was Bonnie Pierce, 71, and Jerry Little, 76, who were rediscovering love at the fair.
Since 1848, the fair’s New England charm has brought the community together, and back to its agricultural roots, year after year.
On Saturday, a little bit of rain couldn’t stop the day’s events, which featured an apple pie bake-off, livestock competitions, a ventriloquist show, the third annual Franklin County’s Got Talent, a truck pull and Frisbee dogs.
For many, going to the fair is a generational tradition. But for others, going to the fair is new and exciting — bringing with it the youthful charm of summer love, second-date butterflies and first kisses.
“We are a widow and a widower on our second date,” Little said, with perceptible happiness, while standing near a historic tractor exhibit. “We’ve been texting back and forth like a couple of teenagers.”
The two were brought together about a month ago over a common love: RV-ing. They met for the first time Aug. 12 at Travelers Woods of New England, a campground in Bernardston.
Little, who’s from Framingham, spent a career as an architect before becoming a Winnebago nomad. He said he’s been taking voyages via RV for about 20 years, and has traveled all over the country. Little said he still works part-time at a security company and at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough during concerts.
Pierce, a Greenfield resident, worked as a nurse for 44 years before purchasing a 20-foot mobile home. She said she’s going to try to convince Little to quit his job so they can travel more.
At Saturday’s fair, Pierce wore a Tanglewood shirt, a reminder of the couple’s first date. She explained that they’d had brunch before attending a Boston Pops concert at Tanglewood.
“It was wonderful,” Little said about the date. “Neither of us were looking for it, it just kinda happened.”
Around 12:45 p.m., the couple watched while Biscuit, Bullet, Maui and Chaos, border collies in the High Flying Frisbee Dogs show, performed tricks in front of a crowd of several hundred people. Chaos sprinted after Frisbees, catching about 18 out of 21, and Maui performed back flips.
When dog trainer Mike Piazza requested volunteers to throw Frisbees to the dogs, Little volunteered.
After the show, the couple posed for a picture in front of the Swifty Swine Productions trailer, a pig-racing show.
“The symphony and the fair, what else is there?” she said, before they wandered off and disappeared among white vendor trailers, back toward the bumper cars.
For a third date, they’re planning a four-day RV trip to The Big E next weekend.
You can reach Andy Castillo
at: acastillo@recorder.com
or 413-772-0261, ext. 263
On Twitter: @AndyCCastillo