CONWAY — Festival of the Hills returned with its signature mix of art, crafts, contests, fried dough and “a lot of local flair” on Sunday, as longtime volunteer Heather Lantz described it.
“It’s a special showcase of Conway,” said longtime volunteer Phyllis Jeswald between bites of fried dough with maple cream.
Runners take off at the starting line of the 10k race at Conway’s Festival of the Hills on Sunday. HALEY BASTARACHE / For the Recorder. 
Blacksmith Bob Compton demonstrates his work at Conway’s Festival of the Hills on Sunday. HALEY BASTARACHE / For the Recorder. 
Karen Hathaway of Northfield, Keri Bastarache, of Erving, Marcia Miller, of Leyden, and Leslee Colucci, of Conway, play a human slot machine at the booth of the Friends of the Franklin County Regional Dog Shelter. HALEY BASTARACHE / For the Recorder. 
Oil painting by Elaine Van Gelder on display at the Field Memorial Library in Conway on Sunday. HALEY BASTARACHE / For the Recorder. 
Bonnie Decker stands next to the 167lbs of wood that she chopped at the log splitting contest at Conway’s Festival of the Hills on Sunday. HALEY BASTARACHE / For the Recorder. 
A banner for the Conway Festival of the Hills. HALEY BASTARACHE / For the Recorder
Outside of the Field Memorial Library, runners kicked the day of festivities into full gear with the “Covered Bridge Classic 10K Road Race.” For returning runner Bridget Macdonald of Northampton, finishing the course came down to “embracing the hills.”
“It’s hilly, but it’s so gorgeous,” she said. “It’s a nice fall race.”
While running along the route, Montague resident Michael Keebler said he often turned his head to take in the views. Looking out at the vendors selling fresh produce from their farms and the volunteers behind the tables of sweet treats across the street, he said the scene in the center of town “feels like something out of ‘Gilmore Girls’… classic New England.”
“It’s all local,” longtime volunteer Rena Moore said inside the tent for the bake sale, where she sold a few of her homemade sweets.
With decades of Festival of the Hills memories, she said she comes back each year for “the fun, the camaraderie, (and) the community.”
“These are the types of things where people come out and talk to each other,” said Buddy Downey of Conway, who has taken the stage at the festival for decades with his band, “Kitchen Party.”
“It’s important for people to remember that they have spaces to be with [their] community,” echoed Kirsten Black, munching on “Parmageddon” fries sprinkled with garlic and parmesan from the Spuds With Love food truck.
Across from the food trucks on the ballfield, local artists sold crocheted stuffed animals, ink pen drawings, five-minute portraits, ceramics, jewelry and other creations. By the crafters’ booths, kids also met Tom Ricardi’s crew of birds.
At 11:30 a.m., attendees faced off for the Logsplitting Contest, a Festival of the Hills staple. In just two minutes, visitors slammed their axes through as many logs as they could manage.
Bonnie Decker split the logs in style, wearing a “woodland fairy” costume to match the wood at the mercy of her axe. She fashioned the costume with upcycled fabrics from discarded clothes and finished the outfit with handmade peacock feather wings and a wooden crown. She decided to wear the costume in her second year at the festival after intimidating her male competitors the first time she competed, she said.
“So I started wearing costumes so I would intimidate them more,” Decker, 70, said with a grin. Now, five logsplitting contests later, locals recognize her whenever she visits her friends in Conway, a three-hour drive from her home in Kerhonkson, New York.
The crowd of around 50 people cheered and yelled, “girl power!” as Decker, who grew up splitting logs, cut through 167 pounds of wood, earning first place in the women’s competition. Greg Beck won among the men for splitting 202 pounds of wood.
“I don’t know you, but you’re my hero!” exclaimed one visitor after Decker’s turn, giving her a hug and snapping a photo of her fairy wings.
As a former champion of the contest, Decker said the key is picking the right “knot” in the log as the target.
“You’ve got to know the wood,” she said simply.
Later that day in the Skillet Toss, Chris Nelson had the farthest throw at 66 feet, Jim Recore took first place between the men over 60 years old for chucking the pan 54.6 feet and Cassie Jouannet won in the women’s competition with a 43-foot throw.
While many locals call the Skillet Toss competition their favorite event of the day, Conway native Laura Winter said the Logsplitting Contest is her favorite festival tradition. Besides the contest, she said the “community feel” of Festival of the Hills sets it apart from other festivals and fairs.
“Everybody knows everybody,” Winter said, before someone stopped her to say “hello.”
