Farm Fest fuses food and fun

Hudson, NY — Farm Fest '05 has so much to see and do that all who attend will get a program, along with a free raffle ticket, when they come through the gates at the fairgrounds this Saturday, October 1.

The Kitchen Kaylie Band greets all who enter at 10 a.m. with some great down-home bluegrass.

The first of three amazing, half-hour shows by the Paul Bunyan Lumberjack Show is at 10:30 a.m. The show has done over 100,000 performances, reaching over a million people a year around the world in its 29-year history. Saturday is the first time the show comes to Columbia County .

In the axe throwing competition, one of five contests they do, two men toss their three-pound double-bit axes at a target twenty feet away, with hair-splitting accuracy. The underhand chopping contest and others are just as breathtaking to watch. Their other two shows are at 1 and 3 p.m.

Storyteller Mary Rachel Platt performs at noon and 2 p.m., while Nancy Johnson and Dick Hogle team up on folk and jazz classics at 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Michael Carr and Matt Bowe perform at noon and 3 p.m.

This celebration of the agricultural diversity of Columbia County has lots for children to see and do. Not only is there a hay maze and hay jump but the very popular tractor pedal pull returns, courtesy of First Pioneer Farm Credit, from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Among the other children's activities are potato sack races, a bean bag toss, a pumpkin carrying contest, reverse apple bobbing and more. Both Cornell Cooperative Extension and the Columbia Land Conservancy have hands-on activities for kids.

Children, and adults, are also welcome to put their hands on animals – baby animals at the meet-and-greet by Red Barn Farm as well as the 4-H mini-barnyard and others.

Dozens of exhibitors will display their produce and products grown on Columbia County lands, from organic growers to forestry products, from such livestock as alpaca to a fascinating display of farmland as habitat for native plants and animals.

The Columbia-Berkshire Craft Guild will also be on hand, to show their crafts and provide information on area artists.

And what is a Farm Fest without lots of good fresh, local food. Festival-goers can eat in and take home everything from chicken and barbecue pulled pork with spinach slaw to berry pies, brownies, apple cider and donuts, organic fruits and vegetables, syrup and sauces, and more.

Farm Fest '05 runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., rain or shine, at the Columbia County Fairgrounds off Route 66 in Chatham . Admission, which includes parking and raffle tickets, is $5 per person. Children 12 and under enter for free.

Farm Fest '05 is produced by the Columbia County Chamber of Commerce and co-hosted by The Columbia Land Conservancy. Additional supporters include Meltz Lumber, Logging & Land Clearing, the Columbia County Agricultural Society, Columbia County Farm Bureau, Community Agriculture of Columbia County, First Pioneer Farm Credit ACA, Assemblyman Patrick Manning, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Columbia County, the Columbia Hudson Partnership, and the Green Pastures Grant awarded by the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation. Sponsors include: American Farmland Trust, Beckenrah Farm, The Berry Farm, Coach Dairy Goat Farm, and Trustco Bank. Media sponsors include: The Independent, The Register Star and Clear Channel Radio of the Hudson Valley . Hudson River Bank & Trust Foundation is the lead sponsor of the Paul Bunyan Lumberjack Show. Additional sponsors include Dunn Builders Supply, Davis Tractor & Turf, Inc., Ed Herrington, Inc., and Meltz Lumber, Logging and Land Clearing.

For information, call the Chamber at 828-4417.