FOFAH’s annual Harvest Dinner and Silent Auction brought 300 plus people together to enjoy the dinner and celebrate the local farmers and suppliers – especially our Partner Farmers from Suffield and nearby Massachusetts. Despite this summer’s terrible drought, Halladay Farms, Oxen Hill Farm, Nestrovich Orchards, Cecchi Farm, Bielonko Farm and Highland Park Market generously contributed to this local celebration of local agriculture.
During Farm Fest on Labor Day, the community came and enjoyed pony rides, viewing the presentation from the Birds of Prey from Wingmasters, amphibians of “Adam’s Reptiles” and spinners of yarn. People of all ages participated in games led by Ryan & Tyler of Enfuse Fitness. There was an apple cider pressing demonstration by Mark O’Hara. Several antique tractors joined in during the Tractor Parade, organized by Scott Kaplan. Cow Chip Bingo was again an enormous hit with everyone.
The beautiful weather during Labor Day weekend added to FOFAH’s Celebration of Hilltop Farm. It was perfect for an outdoor dinner and celebration of agriculture and nature. We appreciate all the volunteers who help make Farm Fest a fun community event. We hope you will join us next year.
Sarah McIntosh applies some body English to encourage her hay bale to tumble a bit further. As it turned out, she placed second to Sabdiel Rodriguez among the older girls hay bale toss competition.
The big tug-of-war contest in the afternoon was managed by Tyler Pratt and Ryan Woods of Enfuse Fitness in Enfield. The vigorous team pictured here, with its obvious enthusiasm, won the last pull of the final, two-out-of-three championship.
That’s Kera Robinson inside the Holstein costume, with Hunter Adams as her escort. (Visibility is very limited!) Both are from the SHS Agriscience program.
Little Ferris Graham, 3, is braced by his mother, Erika, as his sturdy steed is led around the ring. The pony was provided by A. J. Stables of Westfield, Mass.
Young Cy Carleton, going on 5, explores the shell spurs of “Sid,” an African Spurside Tortoise. Sid was grazing on the Hilltop lawn near the exhibit of Adam Harris’s Amphibians and Reptiles, from Harris in Wonderland, of Avon.
Diane Caswell Christian, who grew up across Mapleton Avenue from Hilltop Farm, studies an aerial view of her childhood neighborhood, exhibited among many old photos of the area.
Successfully milking a plywood cow at Farm Fest, Huitzilin Nieves-Nieto fills the bucket as her friend Avery Berg supervises. The little milkmaids are 4 and 3½.
Caiden Robinson, 2, explores the tactile sensation of a cow’s nose. Tinker, the 2-year-old Jersey from Hastings Farm, had returned to her pen at Farm Fest after doing her duty as the star performer at the Cow Chip Bingo in a small, nearby pasture.