WASHINGTON — The Massachusetts Republican Party has a number of priorities. Taxes. Budgets. Immigration. And now — Donna.
More specifically, Donna Festinger, 72, of Greenfield, who single-handedly decided to staff a booth at the Great American State Fair, President Trump’s festival commemorating America’s 250th birthday, on the National Mall.
Festinger, a retired teacher, has spent the better part of a week spending 12 hours a day at the fair, rationing the few donated samples of maple syrup she scraped together as souvenirs for visitors she greets inside the Massachusetts booth. But now, she’s getting reinforcements, and it has become a cause célèbre (and distraction from losing several candidates from the ballot) for the state GOP, which has sharply criticized the state’s Democratic leadership’s decision to skip participation in the fair.
The event was set to host displays from all 56 states and US territories, but Massachusetts is one of a handful of Democratic-led states that declined to participate. Governor Maura Healey’s office put the cost of the state’s involvement in the fair in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. The event is also being put on by Freedom 250, Trump’s MAGA commission that supplanted the efforts of the nonpartisan America 250.
So amid splashy and swag-laden offerings from other states, the Bay State’s booth would have been empty, save a backdrop with “Massachusetts” written in script and some notable landmarks printed on the background.
But Festinger, hearing of the controversy, intervened.
Initially, she was on her own out of virtually all the New England states (only New Hampshire did an official booth — the others have the empty backdrops). With permission from the fair organizers, she piled tiny bottles of maple syrup she got donated from Winston’s Sugar House in Shelburne Falls into her Toyota Camry and drove the nine hours to Washington.
The Globe wrote about her efforts last week, and soon, many other news outlets also featured her story. The Massachusetts state GOP took note — with members sharing her story on social media, collecting donations, and springing into action to get her more supplies. A social media post from a city councilor in Agawam went viral on X, adding fuel. Festinger is also a member of the Greenfield Republican Town Committee.
Now, things have changed. The state GOP shipped a collection of state flags, stickers, miniature American flags, and other themed swag to the national party, which hand-delivered it to Festinger on Wednesday morning. More is coming, according to state committeeman Chris Ryan, who said he has collected nearly $1,000 in social-media-driven donations and his state GOP website. The state party is also collecting donations through the Republican donation platform WinRed.
“Donna’s dedication reminds us that real leadership often comes from the grassroots,” the party wrote in an email newsletter collecting donations. “The Massachusetts Republican Party thanks her for carrying the torch for the Bay State when others would not.”
Ryan said some volunteers collected state brochures from local chambers of commerce and are in the process of driving them down to D.C. with other giveaways.
Onetime South Boston City Council candidate Brian Foley is livestreaming the process as he spends 48 hours 3-D printing keychains that he intends to deliver personally in time to be there by the Fourth of July.
The fair has been Trump’s brainchild and thus polarizing from the outset. The first signs of trouble came in late May after a series of announced performers who wanted to avoid being perceived as partisan dropped out. Their exodus led Trump to declare himself the headliner with a political rally on opening night.
What has resulted is a surreal event full of contrasts populated by sparse, sun-scorched crowds. The lightly attended on-stage programming has featured a heavy dose of Christian revivalism and administration priorities, while inside the makeshift Greco-Roman-style pavilions, visitors perused largely apolitical displays selling tourists on visiting their states.
But in her corner on Wednesday afternoon, Festinger’s spirits were buoyed and she was happily offering flags, maple syrup-themed coloring books, and other items to children and visitors to the booth. She said she’s been taken aback by her viral fame, saying someone asked for her autograph on Tuesday and visitors have taken pictures with her.
She also had company. Festinger was joined Wednesday morning by Judith Kalaora, founder of History at Play and a Boston-based actress and reenactor. Kalaora came dressed in period wear as Deborah Sampson, a revolutionary who disguised herself as a man to fight with the Continental Army. She felt it was important to highlight Sampson’s unique role in the Revolution at the event celebrating America’s 250th birthday and Massachusetts.
Kalaora said, like Festinger, she also was motivated after seeing a social media post about the empty booths at the fair and arrived to D.C. at 1 a.m. on Wednesday. After a bit of sleep, she went straight to the fair, but there was a delay getting to Festinger’s booth to join in.
“It took me about three hours to get from the main entrance to the booth, because I kept getting stopped for interviews and posing for pictures,” Kalaora said in between talking to more fairgoers. “And that’s exactly why I’m here, is to tell [Sampson’s] story. So, the more people who stop to talk to me, the happier I am.”
Kalaora will only stay through the Fourth of July, but Festinger hopes to make it through the whole fair.
“Here’s the best part, I’m meeting so many people from all over the world and learning so much,” Festinger said. “I’m very glad I came.”
Tal Kopan can be reached at tal.kopan@globe.com. Follow her @talkopan.