Celebrating the harvest

Yesterday was the Madison Farmers’ Market’s “Autumn Harvest Celebration” and though the day was not bright and sunny, the event turned out well. We saw a good turn-out, many of the market’s devoted followers came out-along with a number of tourists. We had a couple of different agricultural presentations, food, games, and music–and aside from a couple of brief misty-drizzles–the rain held off.

As market manager I feel that it’s important to set up these kind of events–not only do they promote the market, but they help to get people excited–and when people get excited about something they feel good about it, and they’ll go out of their way for that thing.

Because people got excited about the idea of the Harvest Celebration I managed to line up Ken Hahn of Buttermilk Hill Farm in Belgrade, Maine to talk about permaculture, and Kathy Hopkins of the University of Maine’s Somerset County Cooperative Extension to talk to folks about root cellars and food storage methods. We were also able to line up–not one, but two–volunteers to help out with the kids’ games and various market-related tasks.

Because the market vendors got excited about the Harvest Celebration, they volunteered food, helped to make games, sought out possible musicians to come to market, and offered their time and help to make it all happen.

Maybe it’s just me being–well-me–but I like to celebrate little things. I celebrate the arrival of spring and fall, the first snow, new baby chicks, the long-awaited arrival of a highly anticipated movie and minor accomplishments like getting a 100 on a spelling test. Celebrating even the littlest things seems to me to bring more joy to my life. It creates memories and gives depth to life.

When you share a celebration with friends and your local townspeople it helps to foster a greater sense of community–and that’s something that once was a very strong theme in any town, but it seems that with the advent of technology some of that has faded. What better way to bring your community back together than to celebrate the bounty that the land you live on has provided?