Merrill Potato Festival

October 18, 2003

Today was the annual Potato Festival, and it is indeed a celebration! This is the second year in a row, since 2001, that we have had a continuous supply of irrigation water to produce a bountiful harvest.  We will never forget the year we did not--the tears, the dust, the pain, the auctions. And no potatoes.

So today we celebrated the harvest, and Main Street parade held precious sights. There were children on horses, 50th class reunions on floats, motorcycles, old cars, harvest queens, preschools, and The Grand Marshal.  It was followed by the annual free community barbeque, with hundreds of folks congregating to make more treasured memories. The old time fiddlers played, and the Walt Wilson Community Center had all sorts of country-fair type exhibits:, art, pumpkins. children's art, and more.  And there were piles of potatoes.

It is this time every year when we come together with friends and neighbors. And we are thankful for our blessings and the rewards for our hard work on the farm.