Harvest Festival
York, ME
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York, founded in the 1760s, hosts a fall Harvestfest each year that the Boston Globe claims to be one of the best in New England. We were fortunate to be in Maine the weekend this fun event was being held.

We were pointed in the direction of parking for our large motorhome and took the shuttle (school bus) to the village green.

The historical side of the festival centered around Jefferson Tavern, an inn built in the 1-00s where men, women and children in period dress cooked and served a traditional meal to visitors (we were too late to get in on the food).

There were Celtic and Scottish musicians, horse-drawn wagon rides, a small Indian encampment, and lots and lots of food and craft booths. We bought bargain books at the small library, listened to harps, flutes and bagpipes, sampled treats and roamed the shops of handcrafted items in search of a few gifts and souvenirs.
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Supper at Jefferson Tavern

Amanda enjoyed seeing girls and women dressed in traditional colonial costumes. "The girls looked like very good servants and I would have liked to have dinner there. It would have been fun to dress up like that too."

If You Lived in Colonial Times by Ann McGovern, June Otani (Illustrator), Brinton Turkle (Illustrator)

Hearth at the Ladd-Gillman House in Exeter, NH

Life in the 1700's centered around the fireplace. Harrison learned about some of the kitchen gadgets used 200 years ago. "There's a muffin pan, a foot warmer box, a bed warmer pan with a long handle, a 'teeter-totter toaster', and a musket above the fireplace. I don't think they would have really put a gun near the fire because of the gunpowder."

Since fire was so important, the risks were also apparent. We saw leather water buckets used in community fire fighting. These were kept near the door and painted with the owner's name so they could be returned after each bucket brigade.

We enjoyed an old-fashioned treat of Kettle Corn as we roamed the craft booths. This yummy snack was cooked in a huge kettle with some sugar and a bit of salt to form as crunchy, light coating that made it irresistible.

An Apple Harvest
by Frank Browning, Sharon Silva

Amanda gets into the spirit of the fall season with a pumpkin on her cheek. Face painting was only part of the children's activities at the Harvestfest. Harrison had a great time listening to the DJ play 70's music and watching some entertaining boys dancing on the small stage, lip-synching to the songs.

"My favorite thing at the Harvestfest was shopping for doll clothes. There were so many cute things that people had made that I had a hard time choosing what to spend my allowance on." --Amanda
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Fred Gosbee & Julia Lane, Musicians

This talented musical duo, who have been performing together for 13 years as Castlebay, are a real treat to the ears. Their fine musical skills, along with their sense of humor, make them entertaining for the whole family.

Fred plays guitar, viola and woodwinds, Julia is a self-taught championship harpist, and both sing as they take their audience on a journey across the sea to their Celtic roots, as well as share with them their love for their home state of Maine. Through arrangements of traditional songs, as well as Fred's humorous ballads and Julia's inspiring, melodic pieces that touch the heart, Castlebay draws you into life as is was long ago. Their congeniality and rapport with the children made meeting them a memorable experience. And as we traveled on to the next stop, we listened to one of their CDs and relived the fun of seeing them perform.

Youth of York

This group of kids from York Middle School were in the cemetery near the festival grounds skating and biking on the roads. Harrison and Rob stopped to talk with them for a few minutes, and decided that they would be great representatives of today's youth.

One of them, Nick Newman, helped us gather the gang together for this group shot. Representing the group, he said that he was upbeat about the future, and wasn't concerned about Y2K. Their hero was Rodney Mullen of extreme skateboard fame. They all seemed to agree that their favorite band was Blink 182.

Front:Travis Chichester, Deke Fennel, Phil Ford, Matt Fenell, Adam Stone

Middle: P.J., Nick Newmann, Andy Duchesne, Tyler Ruger, John Cummings, Justin Burleigh, Kevin Drobish, Jamie Olson, Ryan Bomfield, Ian Browne

Back: Sophy Fulis, Kyle Petou, Andrew Lane, Tyler Littlefield, Phil Swanson

Trip Tips

The Harvestfest we attended was held the third Saturday in October, 1999. To accomodate visitors, there was parking at an elementary school, then free buses to the festival area, which was very helpful for motorhome drivers.
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For Younger Readers

For Older Readers
A Pioneer Thanksgiving : A Story of Harvest Celebrations in 1841
by Barbara Greenwood, Heather Collins (Illustrator)
Itse Selu : Cherokee Harvest Festival
by Daniel Pennington, Don Stewart (Illustrator)
If You Lived in Colonial Times by Ann McGovern, June Otani (Illustrator), Brinton Turkle (Illustrator)

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