East Hampton - It started 125 years ago: a small fair on the lawn of St. Luke's Episcopal Church that raised $950 for the community. Now, more than a century later, the St. Luke's Fair continues to provide fun and games, along with great food and expensive prizes, to residents and summer visitors alike.

Year after year, the Fair has attracted not only local and visiting families, but also a fair number of the fairest celebrities who reside on the East End. There have even been a few non-resident celebrities who have stopped by such as Paul Newman and John Lindsay. Last year, New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly visited the fair, no doubt not looking for criminals on the lam. (Whitey Bulger may have been apprehended a lot earlier if he had visited the Fair).

This year, there are going to be some exceptional prizes auctioned off to visitors to the Fair: a South Beach Condo vacation, a private curator-guided tour of the Museum of Modern Art, another private tour of all the backstage facilities at the Metropolitan Opera, gourmet dinners at the 1770 House, the Grill, Cittanuova, and East Hampton Point (a circuit usually pursued by hungry restaurant critics), two dreamy nights at the Maidstone Arms, and much more.

For children, there will be pony rides, face painting, games galore, and the best hamburgers and hot dogs this side of Yankee Stadium. To quench the thirsts and satiate the appetites of adults, there will be the best beer outside of Bavaria to wash down a harvest of succulent clams, followed by pastry-chef-quality baked goods, and produce fresh from local farms. There will also be enough vintage clothing to dress several costume dramas, a barn sale of antiques dating as far back as the first St. Luke's Fair, and the kind of gorgeous plants that made the Garden of Eden so tempting (serpent not included).

It all takes place on Saturday, August 6, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the front lawn of St. Luke's Episcopal Church, 18 James Lane, East Hampton (across from the green on Main Street). For further information, one can call 631-329-0990.