To the Editor:

roThe 55th Annual Harvest Festival in Norwood sponsored by the Village was a success as we implemented the theme of “Harvest Days and Hometown Ways” on September 19. This included a large variety of craft and non-profit vendors, the creativity pumpkin painting with Kris Rozelle, plus pumpkin games, the first time Cake Walk and Food Trucks (Little 56, Sip Happens, & NC Soda Company), the local business scarecrows and scarecrow photo booth, the bobbing for apples and the doughnuts-on-a-string. 

What a joy and pleasure to watch the children and adults try to bite a doughnut or apple without using their hands.

That was only a portion of the activities of the festival. This year there was also a Youth Musical Showcase with students from the NNCS participating. A senior, two eighth graders and a 6th grader took turns to showcase their guitar playing and voice, their trumpet, the keyboard, and their saxophone. This Musical Showcase is a keeper.

There was an Americana Baseball Game between the third and fourth grade teams that took place at the old school on Prospect St. Then in the evening the Norwood Fire Department held a Chicken BBQ prior to the tractor hayrides and the Contra Dance upstairs in the Municipal Building.  

We want to thank everyone involved on Saturday for helping to make this a very special day indeed. Andy Van Duyne (sound system), Wendy Chambers of the Community Lunch Program for Kids (the cake walk), Jody Blair (the Baseball Game), Beth Robinson along with Matt Bullwinkel, Jody Wallace, and Phen Canner (dance caller and musicians). Thank you also to the members of the Key Club, and members of the Honor Society (serving before, during and after), Michelle Garrow (Musical Showcase), the Norwood Fire Dept. and various donations from Parishville Center Apple Orchard, Lowe’s, Webster’s, Allen’s Convenient Store, Norwood Lake Association, Merriman’s, maple,etc., Norwood News Cafe, and Tree of Life Christian Bookstore. The apple pies were donated by St. Philips Episcopal, St. Andrews Catholic, United Methodist/Congregational, and Grace Bible Fellowship churches for the dance. Matt and Jimmy Grant provided the tractor and hayrides. Roy and Pat Mayo, and Frank Pierce marked the vendor spots Friday night. Whew, I hope we didn’t forget anyone. This was definitely an outpouring of the community working together toward a fabulous festival. 

Dick and I wish to express our gratitude and pleasure of having had the honor of overseeing Norwood’s Harvest Festival along with the wonderful committee members who have given us their time and talents, barrels of laughter, creative activities and solutions, and then along with their spouses also tackled the setting up and cleaning up of the day. How blessed we have been for we couldn’t have done it without them.  

Thank you to Maureen and Jim Triolo, Lisa and Ted Levison, Carolynn and Mike Halford, Patti Dean, and Dayle Grant. We are excited about the enthusiasm and expectation of making the Festival even bigger and better next year. See you in September 2027.

Dick and Sharon Bastille

Norwood