(Aug. 4, 2016) Back for an eighth year, the Berlin Peach Festival this Saturday will begin at 11 a.m. at the Calvin B. Taylor House Museum on Main Street at the north side of town.
A chance of rain is in the forecast, so if the event is a washout, the rain date will be Sunday, Aug. 6 at the same time.
“In the front yard, we’ll have a lot of craft vendors, with an emphasis on handmade items,” Susan Taylor, director of the museum, said. “Local nonprofits will be selling food, and we’ll have kids’ games — it’s just a fun, family-friendly festival.”
The town will be running a free shuttle to the Taylor House Museum, because Main Street will be closed because of this and the Heritage Festival that also will be taking place Saturday at the other end of town.
The shuttle hub is at Berlin Intermediate School on Franklin Avenue.
Mayor Gee Williams will open the festival with help from Little Miss and Little Mister Berlin Peach 2015. The Boy Scouts from Troop 261 will present the colors. All afternoon, the public will be able to stroll among the displays, demonstrations and sales tables. Peaches will be for sale from a variety of Mid-Atlantic growers.
Demonstrations include Linda Davis’ baskets and quilted goods; Ocean Breeze Alpacas will present knitting, spinning and fiber arts, Wes Townsend’s Back Street Apiary and master gardener Tiffany Nichols.
Stevenson United Methodist Church will sell crab cake sandwiches and peach cobbler in its booth. Also serving food will be Arcadia Questers, Baked Dessert Café and Gallery, Buckingham Presbyterian Church and the Worcester County Developmental Center.
Information booths will include the Harrison Family with informal talks about its nursery business in the early 20th century.
“Part of the family’s farms, the Harrison Nursery, was here. The front part of their property is where Stephen Decatur High School is now. Different varieties of peach, like the Hale, were developed here on those 3,000 acres,” Taylor said. “The nursery was here from 1884 to about 1962, when a blight struck and the family moved into the hospitality business.”
Children’s activities will begin at 11:30 a.m. as children try their hands at making ice cream the old-fashioned way. In addition, youngsters can try juggling with Cascading Carlos, take old-time photo cutouts, have their faces painted and put on temporary peach tattoos. The day’s entertainment will feature Mickey Justice, with a special performance by Perpetual Commotion children’s violin/fiddle ensemble.
As in the past, Taylor said, there will be a pie-baking contest, three pie-eating contests and a container of peach pits to guess, with prizes for all the winners. In addition crowd members may purchase 50-50 raffle tickets from the Berlin Heritage Foundation.
All afternoon, the Calvin B. Taylor House Museum will be open for tours of the historic 1832 house, as well as of the upstairs exhibition “Images of the Past.” In addition, the museum will have a sales and membership information booth.
For more information, contact Susan Taylor at 410-641-1019 or email at taylorhousemuseum@verizon.net.
A chance of rain is in the forecast, so if the event is a washout, the rain date will be Sunday, Aug. 6 at the same time.
“In the front yard, we’ll have a lot of craft vendors, with an emphasis on handmade items,” Susan Taylor, director of the museum, said. “Local nonprofits will be selling food, and we’ll have kids’ games — it’s just a fun, family-friendly festival.”
The town will be running a free shuttle to the Taylor House Museum, because Main Street will be closed because of this and the Heritage Festival that also will be taking place Saturday at the other end of town.
The shuttle hub is at Berlin Intermediate School on Franklin Avenue.
Mayor Gee Williams will open the festival with help from Little Miss and Little Mister Berlin Peach 2015. The Boy Scouts from Troop 261 will present the colors. All afternoon, the public will be able to stroll among the displays, demonstrations and sales tables. Peaches will be for sale from a variety of Mid-Atlantic growers.
Demonstrations include Linda Davis’ baskets and quilted goods; Ocean Breeze Alpacas will present knitting, spinning and fiber arts, Wes Townsend’s Back Street Apiary and master gardener Tiffany Nichols.
Stevenson United Methodist Church will sell crab cake sandwiches and peach cobbler in its booth. Also serving food will be Arcadia Questers, Baked Dessert Café and Gallery, Buckingham Presbyterian Church and the Worcester County Developmental Center.
Information booths will include the Harrison Family with informal talks about its nursery business in the early 20th century.
“Part of the family’s farms, the Harrison Nursery, was here. The front part of their property is where Stephen Decatur High School is now. Different varieties of peach, like the Hale, were developed here on those 3,000 acres,” Taylor said. “The nursery was here from 1884 to about 1962, when a blight struck and the family moved into the hospitality business.”
Children’s activities will begin at 11:30 a.m. as children try their hands at making ice cream the old-fashioned way. In addition, youngsters can try juggling with Cascading Carlos, take old-time photo cutouts, have their faces painted and put on temporary peach tattoos. The day’s entertainment will feature Mickey Justice, with a special performance by Perpetual Commotion children’s violin/fiddle ensemble.
As in the past, Taylor said, there will be a pie-baking contest, three pie-eating contests and a container of peach pits to guess, with prizes for all the winners. In addition crowd members may purchase 50-50 raffle tickets from the Berlin Heritage Foundation.
All afternoon, the Calvin B. Taylor House Museum will be open for tours of the historic 1832 house, as well as of the upstairs exhibition “Images of the Past.” In addition, the museum will have a sales and membership information booth.
For more information, contact Susan Taylor at 410-641-1019 or email at taylorhousemuseum@verizon.net.