MONTPELIER — Leadership of the annual Montpelier Fall Festival has changed hands. While formerly run by parents and caregivers of the Montpelier Roxbury Schools “PIE” (partners in education), this year a group of teens from Montpelier High School are organizing the Oct. 3 event on the Statehouse lawn.
“A few things we haven’t talked about yet … music, the food trucks, and posters,” Montpelier High School senior Amanda Supan tells a group of her peers while facilitating a meeting of the Montpelier Fall Festival team during one of its weekly meetings. Supan co-chairs the festival team along with fellow co-chair and sophomore Oliver Shoaff, and senior Alyce Jerome. Two adult mentors, Edisa Gonzalez-Revilla and Eileen Shine, have also joined the group.
Shoaff speaks up: “The Sisters of Anarchy (ice cream food truck) wants to know if they need a certificate of insurance to participate.” The answer is no, but Gonzalez-Revilla wonders if the ice cream truck vendors know gelato will also be on offer. Shoaff reassures her that they’re OK with this.
In the beginning this event was the brainchild of Partners in Education, a group made up of Montpelier Roxbury School District parents and other caregivers who want to support the work of Montpelier schools. Over the past 10 years, the fair has expanded from a small event at Montpelier High School to a major production on the Statehouse lawn. In 2025, about 2,000 people came.
Over the years, the PIE board has been gradually handing the reins to MHS students. Now, the work of organizing the fair, finding the activities (including three inflatables, a kid zone for toddlers, face painting, big Jenga, and cornhole), finding the bands, coordinating food trucks, and reaching out to local businesses for support is the responsibility of Supan, Jerome, Shoaff, and their teammate, Mark Bussell.
In these last weeks before the fair, they’re recruiting the good sports who will participate in the dunk tank. It’s become a tradition for all three school principals and some teachers to sign up, but the team is still looking for volunteers for this and other tasks. This year the fair will have six to eight food trucks including two run by MHS, the Crepe Cart and the Sizzlin’ Solon, which offers items such as grilled cheese sandwiches and paninis. Truck vendors usually turn a portion of their earnings over to PIE.
The work began last May.
“Over the summer,” says Jerome, “we called 25 local businesses asking them to donate gift cards for the raffle. The two Sundays before the event, we table at the farmers market selling raffle tickets.”
Admission to the fair and all the activities is free except for the food trucks and raffle tickets.
What drew a group of teens to this project?
Jerome says she’s already very involved in her community. “My experience last year gave me leadership skills. I learned how to call businesses for professional reasons.”
Supan adds, “I wanted to be in a role and plan a big event … to put together all these different pieces that make the event what it is.”
Last year, the fair raised just under $10,000, ultimately funding equipment for the music program; entry fees for History Day participation; travel for sports teams, playoffs, student club celebrations, field trips, staff appreciation; and the Family Giving Fund.
PIE board member Caitlin Dreschler praised the efforts of the teen organizers. “They have been great, bringing a lot of positive energy and their unique perspectives.”
But it’s been a lot of work for the MHS students and it comes at a busy time of the school year, which means using their summer for part of the work. So will the group breathe a sign of relief when it’s all over? “No,” says Shoaff, who worked on lining up the food trucks. “It will be good to have more freedom in my schedule, but I liked it.”
