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Marking the end of a season...
Sunny skies and warmer temperatures drew larger-than-expected crowds to downtown Mountain Home on Saturday to celebrate a community tradition.
Marking its 18th year, the community's Fall Harvest Festival marked the unofficial end of southern Idaho's yearly farming season.
Hosted by the Mountain Home Chamber of Commerce, the celebration traces its origins from the local Oktoberfest but then took on a life of its own and grew with the community, local organizers said.
While official crowd estimates were not available, Chamber executive director Renae Green said the number of people that gathered in the downtown area was well above the 3,000 that attended last year.
In fact, the larger-than-expected crowds caught a few vendors off guard with the Mountain Home Fire Department and local Rotary Club booths both running out of food early that afternoon, Green said.
The Chamber's executive director was excited to see so many people participating this year, including those who signed up to compete in the various contests held during the day. She was delighted to see the community so heavily involved in making the festival so successful.
For many of the youngsters attending the Fall Harvest, it was a chance to get an up-close look at farm life. Among them was Nathan Sargent, who was drawn to a display featuring alpacas from the local Waca Paca 4-H group.
At his father's urging, the four year old reached out his hand to touch the woolly fur coat of Cap'n Jack -- one of several critters people could pet inside the fenced area in Railroad Park.
During the day, local artists like Bob West showcased their respective skills. Throughout the day, he remained seated in front of Stoecker Jewelers working on an original oil painting of the Sawtooth Mountains.
As people watched, West added small amounts of color to his canvas. He was focused on bringing out the hue of the skyline over the mountain peaks, which changes as the sunlight reaches the mountain peaks, he said.
At a booth down the block, groups of aspiring artists were working on their own creations. They included children like Sylas Wake, who used magic markers and stickers to design a face on a paper cutout of a pumpkin at a booth hosted by Community Partnerships of Idaho.
A couple of attractions at Saturday's festival helped showcase southern Idaho's reputation as a leader in agriculture. This included the "Dinner on a Farmer" promotion where local growers donated some of their produce, which is then handed out to harvest participants.
This year's farm promotion included more than 300 pounds of pinto beans and another 250 pounds of onions. However, what seemed to catch people's attention was heaping pile of potatoes that tipped the scales at more than 1,200 pounds.
On average, local farmers will donate roughly 1,000 pounds of potatoes each year as part of the Fall Harvest promotion.
While people could pick up a bag already filled with potatoes, others like Shon Carlson decided to select their own. Seated in a trailer, the 12-year-old rummaged through the Idaho-grown spuds to fill a grocery bag for his family.
The farm promotion remains part of an overall effort to raise awareness and protect farming and dairy industries in the county, according to festival organizers.
People also had a chance to learn more about Mountain Home's history during free hayrides offered by the River of Life Church. During these guided tours, volunteers pointed out different city landmarks and historical structures built during the city's earliest days.
As people milled around the various booths that filled the sidewalks in the city's downtown area, they also had opportunities to cast their vote during a series of competitions.
At a table next to the Chamber of commerce building, volunteers were busy serving up bite-sized portions of various homemade pies for people to sample. Kathy Wudyka, who helped organize this year's pie-making contest, said the number of entries this year was up considerably with three traditional crust pies and eight cream pies vying for people's votes.
"We have a lot more cream pies this year, which is good because people are going crazy for them," Wudyka said.
Those sampling the treats included youngsters like Makayla Reynolds, who admitted that the chocolate candy bar pie was her personal favorite.
According to Green, just one vote separated the top four pie entries with Dale Drew taking home top honors with her banana split cream pie.
Scattered across the festival area and other parts of town, local businesses and organizations were hoping to gather a few last-minute votes during this year's scarecrow-making contest. The made-from-scratch creations remained on display in front of various storefronts starting Sept. 29 with individuals able to cast their votes during the week.
Voting this year was higher than expected with the Community Partnerships of Idaho earning bragging rights and a plaque from the Chamber of commerce by winning this year's contest.
But not all the homemade creations on display that day were made available to everyone. Beneath a tent reserved specifically for adults, a separate group of people were serving up samples of homemade beers.
As the fall harvest fest began, organizers already had six homemade brews on tap but were expecting up to four additional entries. Among the owners of these home-based breweries were Jeff Paradis, who was drawn to the hobby after his wife bought him a homemade beer-making kit as a Christmas gift.
"I like good beer, but it's also expensive," Paradis said. "It's cheaper doing it this way."
As vendors sold their wares in booths located throughout the downtown area that day, a separate effort helped raise money for the Oasis Rural Fire Department. Proceeds from its annual Fall Harvest yard sale helped benefit the rural community's fire department as well as its emergency medical team.