© 2025 Connecticut Public

FCC Public Inspection Files:
WEDH · WEDN · WEDW · WEDY
WEDW-FM · WNPR · WPKT · WRLI-FM
Public Files Contact · ATSC 3.0 FAQ
Donate
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Audacious with Chion Wolf

The Big E: What it takes to create 17 days of magic

By Jessica Severin de Martinez,
Megan Fitzgerald, Robyn Doyon-Aitken , Chion Wolf
Published October 3, 2025 at 10:01 AM EDT
September 17, 2025 - Springfield, Ma. - The Big E ferris wheel looms large over the fairgrounds.
1 of 11  — September 17, 2025 - Big E
September 17, 2025 - Springfield, Ma. - The Big E ferris wheel looms large over the fairgrounds.
Mark Mirko / Connecticut Public
Bears are hung for display at Cindy’s Bears, a Big E vendor selling stuffed bears and bunnies with personalized names. Originally named Mary’s Bears when it was started by Mary Naughton, its ownership has been transferred to Mary’s daughter Cindy Penner. The shop, according to 80-year-old Naughton, was started when she was at a flea market as a single mother looking for ways to make additional income. She became “fascinated” with an embroidery machine which then grew into the idea to create custom named bears figuring the bears would be good for two or three years of business at craft shows, “30 years later,” she said, “It’s still stronger than ever. Teddy bears are made for love and now I have mothers coming back and saying, I had a teddy bear when I was a baby. I'm buying one for my son or my daughter.”
2 of 11  — September 17, 2025 - Big E
Bears are hung for display at Cindy’s Bears, a Big E vendor selling stuffed bears and bunnies with personalized names. Originally named Mary’s Bears when it was started by Mary Naughton, its ownership has been transferred to Mary’s daughter Cindy Penner. The shop, according to 80-year-old Naughton, was started when she was at a flea market as a single mother looking for ways to make additional income. She became “fascinated” with an embroidery machine which then grew into the idea to create custom named bears figuring the bears would be good for two or three years of business at craft shows, “30 years later,” she said, “It’s still stronger than ever. Teddy bears are made for love and now I have mothers coming back and saying, I had a teddy bear when I was a baby. I'm buying one for my son or my daughter.”
Mark Mirko / Connecticut Public
Sabrina Gagnon from Hobby Knoll Stables in Duxbury, Massachusetts, cleans up a Big E street after Clydesdale horses from Hobby Knoll walked through. Andrea Anderson of Hobby Knoll Stable, who joked with Chion Wolf about being the “pooper-visor” said, “There's definitely a fling to the wrist to get the manure in the shovel. The first time it does take a little bit of skill. For sure, it is an art.”
3 of 11  — September 17, 2025 - Big E
Sabrina Gagnon from Hobby Knoll Stables in Duxbury, Massachusetts, cleans up a Big E street after Clydesdale horses from Hobby Knoll walked through. Andrea Anderson of Hobby Knoll Stable, who joked with Chion Wolf about being the “pooper-visor” said, “There's definitely a fling to the wrist to get the manure in the shovel. The first time it does take a little bit of skill. For sure, it is an art.”
Mark Mirko / Connecticut Public
Fife player Melissa Russell walks with her family to meet “A bunch of fife and drum corps people from around the state, around the area, and we come to represent the history of music.” Russell, from Bristol, Ct., said she is the third generation of her family” to be in a fife and drum corps.
4 of 11  — September 17, 2025 - Big E
Fife player Melissa Russell walks with her family to meet “A bunch of fife and drum corps people from around the state, around the area, and we come to represent the history of music.” Russell, from Bristol, Ct., said she is the third generation of her family” to be in a fife and drum corps.
Mark Mirko / Connecticut Public
September 17, 2025 - Springfield, Ma. - Amber Stone, who works as a bathroom attendant at The Big E and as a full-time recovery coach when the fair is over said, “I work with people in recovery that are on, you know, drugs or alcohol and stuff like that. So I try to guide them in the right path to get their self clean and help them with, you know, probably if they need help with housing or, you know, stability and, you know, mental health and stuff like that. So I help direct them in the right path.” “I did cocaine for a year, and then I had a stroke six years ago. So I've been clean for six years, and then I just changed my whole mind, and then I ended up getting back, getting back into the field, and I ended up going to be a recovery coach. And it changed my whole life, and I love it.” (Mark Mirko/Connecticut Public)
5 of 11  — September 17, 2025 - Big E
September 17, 2025 - Springfield, Ma. - Amber Stone, who works as a bathroom attendant at The Big E and as a full-time recovery coach when the fair is over said, “I work with people in recovery that are on, you know, drugs or alcohol and stuff like that. So I try to guide them in the right path to get their self clean and help them with, you know, probably if they need help with housing or, you know, stability and, you know, mental health and stuff like that. So I help direct them in the right path.” “I did cocaine for a year, and then I had a stroke six years ago. So I've been clean for six years, and then I just changed my whole mind, and then I ended up getting back, getting back into the field, and I ended up going to be a recovery coach. And it changed my whole life, and I love it.” (Mark Mirko/Connecticut Public)
Mark Mirko / Connecticut Public
September 17, 2025 - Springfield, Ma. - Chion Wolf samples a cream puff made at The Big E. Cream puff maker Lynn McKenna who estimate making more than 100,000 cream puffs and 45,000 eclairs in a year said “People will wait for hours in a line to get a cream puff.” (Mark Mirko/Connecticut Public)
6 of 11  — September 17, 2025 - Big E
September 17, 2025 - Springfield, Ma. - Chion Wolf samples a cream puff made at The Big E. Cream puff maker Lynn McKenna who estimate making more than 100,000 cream puffs and 45,000 eclairs in a year said “People will wait for hours in a line to get a cream puff.” (Mark Mirko/Connecticut Public)
Mark Mirko / Connecticut Public
Gene Cassidy, President and Chief Executive Officer at Eastern States Exposition, stands in a conference room on the grounds of The Big E. “By 1923 the newspaper men who were setting type in those days were burdened by the length of the name of the organization. And so they lobbied Mr. Brooks, whose portrait hangs behind us here, they lobbied Mr. Brooks to change the name because it was too difficult to write the Eastern States Agricultural and Industrial Exposition every time they were crafting an article. So they shortened it to the Eastern States Exposition, and a lot of things happened in between. But then fast forward to 1969 they complained again, and we came up with the Big E.”
7 of 11  — September 17, 2025 - Big E
Gene Cassidy, President and Chief Executive Officer at Eastern States Exposition, stands in a conference room on the grounds of The Big E. “By 1923 the newspaper men who were setting type in those days were burdened by the length of the name of the organization. And so they lobbied Mr. Brooks, whose portrait hangs behind us here, they lobbied Mr. Brooks to change the name because it was too difficult to write the Eastern States Agricultural and Industrial Exposition every time they were crafting an article. So they shortened it to the Eastern States Exposition, and a lot of things happened in between. But then fast forward to 1969 they complained again, and we came up with the Big E.”
Mark Mirko / Connecticut Public
Audacious producer, Jessica Severin de Martinez and host Chion Wolf taking a photo from the top of the Brooks Building, overlooking The Big E.
8 of 11  — 1000090609.jpg
Audacious producer, Jessica Severin de Martinez and host Chion Wolf taking a photo from the top of the Brooks Building, overlooking The Big E.
Chion Wolf
Audacious host, Chion Wolf, speaks with Josh Virkler of Luann’s Bakery, based in Ellington, CT.
9 of 11  — IMG_5582.jpg
Audacious host, Chion Wolf, speaks with Josh Virkler of Luann’s Bakery, based in Ellington, CT.
Jessica Severin de Martinez
Joseph Haag of Kora and Mila’s Cookie Dough at The Big E.
10 of 11  — IMG_5602.jpg
Joseph Haag of Kora and Mila’s Cookie Dough at The Big E.
Jessica Severin de Martinez
Audacious host Chion Wolf interviewing Josh, John, and Henry Pupa from Griswold, CT, at The Big E.
11 of 11  — IMG_5600.jpg
Audacious host Chion Wolf interviewing Josh, John, and Henry Pupa from Griswold, CT, at The Big E.
Jessica Severin de Martinez

At The Big E, a fair becomes a mirror.

Wander with the Audacious crew through 175 acres of wonder and delight to meet the people who bring it to life! From a Lost & Found sage, to a fairy from the Florence Griswold Museum, to a hot tub ace, to Amber, the bathroom attendant/joy DJ.

President & CEO Gene Cassidy shares the soul of the Exposition, then we follow our heads, hearts, and (especially) stomachs through cream puffs, Pepe’s pizza, cookie dough-on-a-stick, and dangerously good oddities.

Suggested episodes:

GUESTS: 

  • Mary Naughton and Cyndy Penner: mother and daughter duo behind Cyndy’s Bears, selling embroidered teddy bears and other personalized items
  • Andrea Anderson and Sabrina Gagnon: at The Big E with their Clydesdale horses from Hobby Knoll Stable in Duxbury, MA
  • Susan Rotondo and Bill Motyl: longtime fair regulars from Southwick, MA
  • Tammi Flynn: Director of Communications at The Florence Griswold Museum in Old Lyme, CT
  • Rita Rivera: a fairy for the day, advertising the Wee Faerie Village at The Florence Griswold Museum
  • Amber Stone: bathroom attendant at The Big E and recovery coach from Springfield, MA
  • Ed Ame: a Chicago native, who spends most of the year traveling and works at the Lost & Found booth at The Big E
  • James Tackett: a man from Madison, IN, who runs the mini ball booth at The Big E
  • Darryl Wilson: sales representative for MAAX Swim Spas and Hot Tubs
  • Melissa Russell: fife player from Bristol, CT, who performs with a fife and drum corps, and spent Connecticut Day with her family at The Big E
  • John Barrows: printer at Eastern States Exposition
  • Eugene Cassidy: President and CEO at Eastern States Exposition
  • Greg: a Faribault, MN, native, who sells blooming onions at The Big E
  • Kevin Gagliard: Operations Manager at Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana 
  • Lynn Lischke: Newburyport, MA, resident, who sells cream puffs at The Big E
  • Josh Virkler: owner of Luann’s Bakery in Ellington, Stafford, and soon Hartford, CT 
  • Jackson Panek-Henderson: nine-year-old fairgoer from Newington, CT
  • Joseph Haag: owner of Kora and Mila’s Cookie Dough from Plymouth, WI, serving cookie dough on a stick at The Big E
  • Josh, John, and Henry Pupa: repeat fairgoers from Griswold, CT

Jessica Severin de Martinez, Meg Fitzgerald, and Robyn Doyon-Aitken contributed to this show.

Special thanks to Bridget Kelleher, Assistant Director of Marketing at Eastern States Exposition. 

Audacious with Chion Wolf is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Tune In, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode.

Join the conversation on Facebook,Instagram, TikTok, and email.

Audacious with Chion Wolf
Jessica Severin de Martinez
Jessica Severin de Martinez is a producer for Audacious with Chion Wolf.
See stories by Jessica Severin de Martinez
Megan Fitzgerald
Meg Fitzgerald is the senior manager of projects and radio programming.
See stories by Megan Fitzgerald
Robyn Doyon-Aitken
Robyn Doyon-Aitken is the Deputy Director of Audio Storytelling and Talk Shows
See stories by Robyn Doyon-Aitken
Chion Wolf
Chion Wolf is the host of Audacious with Chion Wolf on Connecticut Public, spotlighting the stories of people whose experiences, professions, or conditions defy convention or are often misunderstood.
See stories by Chion Wolf