HARVEST FEST - The Orchard and the Community

HARVEST FEST 2013

A Great Weekend!

BY THE NUMBERS

Friday Night Stehekin Valley Music Program - 140 Attendees

Saturday Cider Pressing and Community Potluck  -  165+ Participants

Sunday Poetry Night - a dozen readers and reciters

WHAT A COMMUNITY EFFORT!

Informed on Monday that the normal venues for Harvest Fest, (the Buckner Orchard and the Golden West Lodge), would be closed due to the government shutdown; the Stehekin Community stepped up!

Instrumental was the Stehekin School Board in providing the use of the School on Friday evening for the music program and for cider pressing and community potluck on Saturday.  Without this prompt and generous offer, Harvest Fest would not have happened this year.

As the School is cleaned on Sunday evening and was unavailable, sincere thanks to Terry Lavender for providing a warm and comfortable setting for Poetry night.

Many individuals stepped forward, allowing us to pick a truckload of apples prior to the shutdown.  Many other small details needed to be worked out now that the Orchard was unavailable.  Hauling and storing the apples, disposing of the cider mash as to not attract bears to the school, and more.  Without hesitation, community member and friends were there!

  

STEHEKIN VALLEY MUSIC - ACROSS THE GENERATIONS

With a standing-room-only crowd, the Friday night program was lively, and entertaining, with a dose of Valley history.  Peggy Ann Courtney, Mary Denmead, Patty Wilsey, Liz and Tom Courtney, The End of the Road Band, "The Andrew Sisters," and spirited sing-along's of Valley favorites made this an event to be remembered!  Rocking the School from 7-8:30 PM, the program was followed by music for dancing and listening from Agnes on Fire, an aberration of The End of the Road Band.  This was an excellent kick off to Harvest Fest 2013!  And, many thanks to JoAnne Reiter and Mark Scherer for thier planning for this event.

CIDER MAKING AND COMMUNITY POTLUCK

Truly the result of a community's commitment and effort, Saturday was busy, relaxing, entertaining, filling, and very enjoyable.  Serenaded first by big band music typical of the Orchard in its hey-day, then live with Imus and the Mud Flows, this was a day to forget about the many consequences of the shutdown to this small community and to celebrate the Community and the Buckner Orchard.

  

Under the best of circumstance, this was a great Harvest Fest Weekend.  Under the circumstances overlaying the Valley this year, this was a marvelous weekend!  The Stehekin Valley and Community truly shined!  Many, many thanks to all who made it so.

Harvest Fest celebrates the Buckner Orchard and the Stehekin Community.  This year, it was a little more about community.

See you next year!

E-mail:  bucknerorchard@aol.com

Web page:  bucknerhomestead.org

The Buckner Homestead Heritage Foundation is a not-for-profit organization
created specifically to support and preserve the Buckner Homestead and Orchard in Stehekin, Washington, and is registered as such with the State of Washington and the IRS
(Tax ID #452913458)

Foundation information is sent by blind copy to members and interested
individuals. If you no longer wish to receive these messages, please
contact us at the e-mail address from which this originated.

HARVEST FEST 2013

October 4-5

Over the past four years, Harvest Fest at the Buckner Orchard has evolved to become more than a one-day event.  For the fourth consecutive year, a Friday evening program at the Golden West Lodge will kick-off our celebration of the Buckner Homestead and Orchard as an important part of our Stehekin Valley heritage.

 

Stehekin Valley Music - Across Generations

Live at the Golden West Lodge, enjoy an evening celebrating the musical heritage of the Valley.  Featuring talented local musicians, sing-along's with Mary Denmead, The End of the Road Band, Peggy Ann Courtney, displays, and more, this is a do-not-miss gathering!

7 PM, Friday, October 4, at the Golden West Lodge,  Be there! 

Fifth Annual Harvest Fest

Be a part of another great day of picking apples, making cider, the community potluck, and the musical entertainment of Stehekin's own The End of the Road Band. 

Saturday, October 5, The Buckner Orchard, Stehekin

10 AM - The picking and pressing begins!

Be sure to bring containers for the cider.

1 PM  - Community potluck, great music, and visiting with old friends and new.

Chili with all the fixing's, table service, plates, cups, lemonade, and coffee are provided.

Bring  lawn chairs if you have them.

Need something in Stehekin?  Follow this link to the Foundation web site and all the connections you need.  Find it in Stehekin

HARVEST FEST AND MORE

HARVEST FEST 2012 - NEAR-PERFECTION!

Continued Indian summer weather, a great apple crop, sumptuous food, and 200+ enthusiastic participants made for a near-perfect celebration of the Buckner Orchard and Stehekin Community on October 6!

 

Valley residents and visitors spent an enjoyable day picking apples, making cider, visiting with old friends and new ones alike, enjoying the music of Stehekin's own End of the Road, while filling plates from the large selection of potluck food. What a glorious day, and the orchard has never looked better!

 

 

 

See what you missed or reminisce about your time at the Buckner Homestead with photos of the day provided by Leo Christoffer, Crystal Austin, and Herb Sargo. (Photos)

 

Follow this link to Wilfred Woods' column in the Wenatchee World celebrating this year's Harvest Fest. Thank you, Wilfred! (Column)

 

MANY SPECIAL THANKS

Special thanks are in order for Eric Little and John Schinneman of Whildbey Island, friends of the Stehekin Community, for completely refurbishing both cider presses at the orchard. Metal and wood parts were replaced or retooled in their shops in Freeland, WA, and the presses are not only much easier to use, especially for kids, but will now serve the community for many years to come. They look great! Thank you both for you generous contribution to the Orchard and Stehekin Community.

The project and transportation to and from Whidbey Island was facilitated by the Foundation, and we are very grateful to Tom Courtney Tug and Barge for providing shipment of one of the presses.

 

Eric is pictured readying the presses for their maiden voyage.

 

NEW BUCKNER ORCHARD SIGN

Harvest Fest 2012 also brought the unveiling of the new Buckner Orchard sign on the Stehekin Valley Road. Construction of the sign was funded by the Buckner Homestead Heritage Foundation, and is pictured here with Wendy Garfoot. The old sign, created by the late Phil Garftoot, now resides at Wendy's new home in Stehekin. The Garfoots were long-time residents at the Orchard and are responsible for much of the work that has made the Buckner Homestead and Orchard what it is today.

 

FALL ORCHARD WORK DAY

13 friends of the orchard spent the morning of October 5 readying the orchard for winter by removing grass and apples from around trees for mice control, cleaning up around the buildings, and other structures, and preparing for the next day's Harvest Fest. (Photos)

 

GRANTS APPROVED

At its annual meeting on May 14, the Foundation Board approved the following grants for work and services at the Buckner Orchard:
     Hazardous Tree Removal  -  $3,000.00
     Replacement of Entrance Sign  -  $2,000.00
     Tree Cage Removal  -  $2,000.00
     WSU Ext. Consultant - $350.00
     Upgrades to Current Fence  -  $1,200.00
     Fill Tractor Tires  -  $600.00
     Replace Old-style Culverts  -  $1,900.00
In addition, The Foundation will work with NPS on improving the wagon shed roof and inventorying, sorting, and placing historic equipment at the Orchard.

NON-PROFIT STATUS

The Foundation has now acquired its own non-profit, 501 (c)(3) status and is no longer a project of the Community Foundation for NCW!

ELECTIONS

Board members David Kurth (Stehekin) and Doug England (Manson) were re-elected to their respective postions as Stehekin Community Representative and Apple Industry Representative.  In addition, Herb Sargo (Sedro-Woolley) was re-elected Foundation president, JoAnne Reiter (Walla Walla) re-elected Secretary, and Cinda Gilbert (Manson) was re-elected Treasurer.

PHOTOGRAPHIC EXHIBIT IN CHELAN

Historic photos from the Orchard Centennial Exhibit are now on display at the Lake Chelan Museum in Chelan.  This is a great chance to view or revisit the earlier days of the Buckner Orchard and Homestead.  The exhibit will be on display through September.

CALENDAR SET FOR 2012

Work parties, meetings, and Harvest Fest dates are all included in our 2012 Calendar of Events.

MEMBERSHIP DRIVE 2012

Our membership drive for 2012 is underway. Join us today and help support the Buckner Homestead and Orchard. (Membership Form)

ANNUAL REPORT 2011

2011, the Centennial Year of the Buckner Orchard, was a busy and produuctive time. Our Annual Report of these activities, financial as well as events, are here for your review and comment.