New Town Holds HarvestFest
New Town’s annual HarvestFest celebration was held on Saturday, Oct. 10 at the Northern Lights Wellness Center. The event was rescheduled from the week before, causing some vendors to be unable to attend. In addition to vendors selling their wares, there were local businesses and groups that had stations with activities, including Cornerstone Bank, RTC Networks, Reynolds Insurance, Dairy Queen, and NDSU/4-H. Besides the games and activities at these booths, there was live music provided by Kalie Rider, bounce houses, a photo booth, face painting, and cookie decorating. On display were 45 creatively decorated pumpkins. After judging them, winners in several age categories were rewarded with New Town Bucks.
Harvest Share was a success again this year. This is the sharing of gardeners’ excess produce with everyone, there is no charge for anyone to help themselves to whatever is available. Plentiful this year were potatoes, beets, and several different types of squash. Once again, we are grateful for the generous donations from the Nueta Hidatsa Sahnish College (NHSC) that were grown in their Four Sisters Gardens, and also from individuals that shared the results of their gardening labors.
In addition to food vendors, a new event this year was the NHSC Traditional Garden Food Cook-off. There were 11 entries for people to sample and then vote for their favorite. Dishes were varied, from pemmican to cake to several kinds of soups and stews. There were many people trying out the different dishes and comparing them.
HarvestFest was organized by NHSC Agriculture Department, New Town City Library, Reynolds Insurance, and New Town Chamber. Thank you to sponsors United Quality Co-op, ConocoPhillips, New Town Larsen Drug, Cornerstone Bank, Chord Energy, RTC Networks, and Mountrail-Williams Electric.