Chamber Hosts Farm Fest '05 at the Chatham Fairgrounds

Hudson, NY - The Columbia County Chamber of Commerce hosted the third annual Farm Fest on Saturday, October 1 at the Chatham Fairgrounds.  The event ran from 10:00 am - 5:00 pm, offering food, animals, a lumberjack show and many other family-oriented activities.  Please click here to view the photo gallery.

The main attraction of the event was the Paul Bunyan Lumberjack Show. The show has done over 100,000 performances, reaching over a million people a year around the world in its 29-year history. Saturday was the first time the show came to Columbia County .  In the axe throwing competition, one of five contests they performed, 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 were just as breathtaking to watch.

The Kitchen Kaylie Band greeted attendees at the main gate.  Storyteller Mary Rachel Platt, Nancy Johnson and Dick Hogle, and Michael Carr and Matt Bowe were among the other entertainers at the event.

The event offered many hands-on activities for children from the Columbia Land Conservancy and Cornell Cooperative Extension.   First Pioneer Farm Credit sponsored the tractor pedal pull for kids.  Children were able to get up close with many animals with the 4-H Mini-Barnyard and the animals from Red Barn Farm. 

Dozens of exhibitors displayed 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 a habitat for native plants and animals.

Farm Fest offered lots of good fresh, local food.  Festival-goers were able to eat-in and take home everything from chicken and barbecue pulled pork to berry pies, brownies, apple cider and donuts, organic fruits and vegetables, syrup, sauces and more.

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.