First-ever Harvest Festival is a success

Community enjoys a fun-filled evening emphasizing healthy lifestyles

Nov. 18, 2009—The first annual Harvest Festival was a huge success thanks to contributions from dozens of volunteers, including middle and high school students, parents, community members, teachers and staff. View the complete list of volunteers.

Approximately 300 guests sampled dishes created by more than 20 area chefs, including Emma Cleary's Cafe, Honest Weight Food Co-op, Jake Moon's Cafe, Mangia, Ric Orlando's New World Bistro, Sake Cafe, Smith's Tavern, Stewart's Ice Cream, Tesoro Italian Restaurant, Yellow Rock Cafe and more.

“It was the perfect marriage of school, community and ecology,” said Voorheesville Elementary School Principal Thomas Reardon in his principal's corner. “We’ll have a wonderful reminder of this beautiful evening this spring when more than 600 tulip bulbs, planted by the entire student body and staff, bloom behind the garden.”

The purple and gold “spirit bulbs” were planted during the week leading up to the festival in beds prepared by Elemental Landscapes and soil donated by Olsen’s Nursery. The bulbs were made possible with generous donations made by former elementary school librarian Annette Zemser and teaching assistant Pamela Seh.

In addition to locally prepared cuisine, guests enjoyed crafts, activities and dancing. Elementary students were invited to cast a “bean” vote at each station where they participated in a taste test. They also won prizes for collecting stickers at each station they visited and were entered in a drawing to win a grand prize.

Sarah Bracken was the grand prize winner of a $20 gift certificate to The Little Book House in Stuyvesant Plaza. She collected 15 stickers from tasting 15 different vegetarian dishes.

“Coincidentally, Sarah has been a Kids' Club garden worker on Fridays, and was the first person to write an entry in our garden journal,” said Pamela Standish, an instrumental member of the Garden Committee. “She’s on the top of our list of enthusiastic student gardeners.”

Fun facts from the Harvest Festival

• 81 brave K-5th grade students tasted at least 10 of the dishes for sampling at the festival.

• 33 fearless K-5th grade students tasted at least 15 of the dishes for sampling at the harvest festival.\

• Students gave almost all the dishes a favorable rating with their “bean vote.”

• The top five favorite dishes for elementary school students were: Rigatoni al forno (pasta with cheese and veggies); apple cookies; melanzane rustica (pasta with eggplant); fruit smoothies; black-eyed pea salsa; and Clarksville quince butter.