It wasn't a very good day to be a peach. With temperatures in the 90s and 85% humidity, the peaches at the Wilbraham Peach Festival were looking a bit wilted. And so were the vendors and volunteers. But that didn't stop them from serving up smiles and peach sundaes. Since 1985, the Peach Festival has been a Wilbraham tradition. The whole town turns out for this old-timey fair, either to volunteer or attend. There are the usual rides, amusements and community booths to be sure, but the real attraction of the Peach Festival is the ripe, juicy fruit itself. All over the festival, peaches were offered up in crisp, jam, salsa (yum!), shakes and smoothies. There's even a Peach Queen, who rides in the opening parade with her court and presides over the weekend event.

We stayed at the festival just long enough to sample some of the peach delicacies. When the heat started to get to us, we jumped back into the air-conditioned car to explore more of Wilbraham. Bordered by Springfield on the west, East Longmeadow on the southwest, Ludlow on the north, Palmer and Monson on the east and Hampden on the south, this town of just under 13,000 has a strong sense of community. Its residents and town leaders pride themselves on the fact that they've preserved large tracts of open space as nature and recreation areas. This gives the town a rural feel that belies the fact that it's located only six miles from Springfield.

At the center of town, and the center of Wilbraham community life, is Wilbraham & Monson Academy. This independent, co-ed college prep school was established by the merger of two nineteenth century academies — Monson Academy, founded in 1804, and Wesleyan Academy, founded in 1817 in New Market, New Hampshire. Wesleyan Academy relocated to Wilbraham to become Wilbraham Academy in 1912, and in 1971, when the school merged with Monson Academy, the name was official changed to Wilbraham & Monson Academy. Along with its gorgeous campus and high academic standards, the school is proud of its tradition of diversity, which began long before the two academies merged. Wesleyan was the first co-ed boarding school in the country, and Monson Academy became the first to enroll Chinese students in 1847. The school also played a role in the anti-slavery movement, when its chapel was used as a stop on the Underground Railroad.

Wilbraham's other claim to fame is the headquarters of Friendly Ice Cream. The famed ice cream chain had its beginnings in 1935, when teenaged brothers Curtis and Prestley Blake opened their first ice cream shop in Springfield. They operated the business for 44 years, building it into a chain of several hundred restaurants, before selling out to Hershey Foods in 1979. While operating the business as a wholly owned subsidiary, Hershey broadened the menu and expanded operations into 15 states. Now owned by The Restaurant Company, the venerable family restaurant continues, pretty much as it always has.

Though we've had both good and bad experiences with Friendly's, since we were so close to the flagship store (which is actually just over the town line in Springfield), we thought we'd give it a try. After all, we figured the food and service had to be better so close to headquarters. And we were right. The tables were clean, the service prompt, the food arrived hot, and the ice cream wasn't melted when it got to us. Could this really be Friendly's? Wish all of the locations could be this good.

Our stomachs full of chicken specials and Happy Ending sundaes, we decided to call it an afternoon, and head for home. While we were at Friendly's, though, one of the organizers of the Peach Festival took the booth behind us. As he chatted with some waitresses and customers, we learned the secret: The best time to attend the festival is Saturday night, after the heat of the day has subsided. Ah well, there's always next year.

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