MIDDLEBORO —  While Ben Norris’ collection of resin-filled seashell figurines caught viewers’ eyes, it was his age that made him unique amongst vendors at the Titicut Green Spring Festival on Saturday, May 4. 

Twelve-year-old Ben and his sister, 10-year-old Zoe Norris, were by far the youngest sellers on the green. 

Ben sells resin-art that he makes with items he collects from all of the places he travels. Hence his business name, “Been Around the World,” he said. His sister Zoe, on the other hand, makes homemade dog, cat and horse treats.

The Norris kids were just two of 52 vendors at the spring fair put on by North Congregational Church in Middleboro. 

The church has put on a Fall Festival for over 30 years and two years ago added the Spring Festival to the calendar, said fair coordinator Teresa Smithey, who is also a member of the church.

These two outdoor events have a huge community impact and help the church sustain itself, said Church Administrator Ellen Cooley. Regarding the fair attendees, she said, “Most are not members of the church,” and added that it’s an event “that brings people together.”

That aspect is what Smithey likes most about the event. “It’s not just a fair, it’s pulling the community together.”

The festival brings in goods of all types, from jewelry, to candles, to books on the revolutionary war; a perfect opportunity for Ben and Zoe Norris to practice their entrepreneurial skills. 

Their father, John Norris, wanted his children to learn how to run a business as part of their homeschool curriculum. “About two years ago, [my wife and I] told them that we were going to require them to run businesses,” he said. 

And while they were given initial funds and continue to receive guidance, Ben and Zoe “run and operate everything by themselves,” he said.

Across the green, Roberta Gesner had a very different reason for coming to the fair. She was selling her late husband’s artisanal woodwork. “This was his therapy,” she said of the variety of storage vessels crafted from cherry, oak and poplar bark on display. Gestner’s husband, Gerry, passed away from cancer. 

“He’d come home from chemotherapy or radiation and when he was feeling really lousy he’d go out in the workshop and indulge in this and take his mind off not feeling well.” 

For Devon and Greg Bitsimis, who sell homemade macarons, the fair is an opportunity to be surrounded by creativity and free of competition. 

“We like to come because it’s such a great collection of crafters. Everything is so different and we don’t feel like we’re selling over other people,” said Devon Bitsimis.