Hayfield’s annual town celebration, Hey Days, has faded away.

Organizers discussed the future of the annual event and determined they no longer had enough volunteer support or interest to hold a three-day celebration as in years past. So this year, the event will revert back to the Hayfield Fire Department Chicken Fry. Organizers said the chicken fry is the event that helped create Hey Days.

“The chicken fry was the one thing that started this whole thing 27 years ago,” said Greg Demmer, Hey Days president for the past two years, and vice president for years before that. “We decided, as we couldn’t get volunteers, let’s give it back to the fire department because they’ve got the manpower.”

Instead of a three-day celebration, the chicken fry, a dance, parade and fireworks will all happen on one night. This year, the celebration will be on Saturday, July 26.

While interest may have waned in Hey Days as families and volunteers moved away, the chicken fry still serves a valuable purpose.

“This started way back in the ’70s,” said Fire Chief Paul O’Brien. “It was a way of fundraising for the fire department.”

That tradition will continue. Furthermore, organizers hope to keep the Miss Hey Days tradition alive. However, O’Brien said the fire department, with all its current obligations, would not be able to oversee that operation.