Community invited to experience life on a farm
By Scott Mitchell Johnson
Staff Writer
MAPLETON — City slickers and country folk alike are invited to a downhome, good time this weekend as the Maple Meadow Farm Festival celebrates its sixth year of country camaraderie on a working farm.
“We’re capturing people of all ages,” said Andrea Gregg, festival organizer. “We have a lot of older folks who come for nostalgic reasons, and we have younger adults and their families come to show the kids about the animals and how crops are raised and harvested. A lot of families attend; some even come for the entire weekend.
“The heaviest concentration of people are from Aroostook County, both north and south,” she said. “We encourage people to sign a guest book so we can see where they’re from and last year we had people from Newport, Farmington, South Berwick, Kennebunk, as well as New Hampshire, Connecticut and Rhode Island.”
Some people travel thousands of miles to experience life on a farm.
“Last year we did have a family travel here from California specifically for the festival. He’s a traveling physician and my father-in-law, Terry Gregg, had met with him and he brought his family to come to the festival,” said Gregg. “They loved it. They had two little girls and they don’t have the rain that we do so they loved stomping in the puddles. They had a fantastic time.
“This year we have a family coming from Dubai just for the festival. They’re staying at a local hotel,” she said. “My father-in-law goes to Boston once a month and he befriended this woman and told her about the farm and the festival, and she’s going to bring her family. We’re excited to have them.”
Gregg said a lot of people have seen the Crown of Maine Productions’ documentary on the farm on MPBN recently and have called for more information.
“The documentary has generated a lot of interest,” she said, “so we’re expecting a good turnout.”
The farm festival, which is sponsored by the Mapleton Lions Club, will be held from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, June 30 and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday, July 1 at the Maple Meadow Farm located at 830 Mapleton Road in Mapleton. Admission is free.
Gregg said the format of the two-day event, which will be held rain or shine, will be much like last year.
“There aren’t really any changes to this year’s festival,” she said. “We have lots of hands-on learning demonstrations from a variety of people. We have horse dentistry, shoeing, spinning demonstrations, wood mill processing, apothecary and herb discussions, a massage therapist will be coming this year and ‘Allagash Tails’ author Tim Caverly will hold a book signing.
“We’ll continue to have the children’s play area and a lot of activities centered on them, the Antique Tractor Club will be here, we’ll do horse-drawn wagon rides, and we’ll dig the first potatoes of the season,” said Gregg. “They’re looking good. Last year they were about the size of a quarter, but I think they’re going to be a little bigger this year. We have a nice selection of musicians coming this year and there will be a lot of great food for sale, too.”
The Central Aroostook Young Farmers will help the Gregg family with set up and parking, and will also be bringing a new harvester and sprayer.
“The Young Farmers are interested in doing more community service and Maple Meadow Farm Festival aligns very well with our philosophy,” said Brandon Berce, CAYF treasurer. “It sounded like a really good idea to be part of this event.”
Despite a lot of work in planning and preparing for the festival, Gregg said her family enjoys opening up the farm up to the public.
“We feel it’s a great way to really showcase our agricultural heritage; not just for our farm but for other farmers, as well. It’s an opportunity for those who are not actively involved in this field to come out to get a taste of it for the day,” she said. “I think people really appreciate that and it gives us a sense of satisfaction knowing that we’re doing something that the community really appreciates, and something that helps keep that sense of tradition alive.”
The schedule of events for the Maple Meadow Farm Festival is as follows:
Saturday, June 30
10 a.m.: Firewood Processing (Hudson Wood Processing)
Spinning Demonstrations (Pam Sweetser)
11 a.m.: Horse Dentistry (Steve Ackley)
Noon: Live Music (To be determined)
Horse Shoeing (Gary Sweetser)
Wood Milling (Wood Mizer)
Spinning Demonstrations (Pam Sweetser)
1 p.m.: Live Music (The Jim Wright Band)
Chair Making (Terry Kelly)
2 p.m.: Live Music (The Jim Wright Band)
Digging Potatoes (One-Row Horse-Drawn Digger*)
Picking Potatoes (Immediately following digging*)
Horse Dentistry (Steve Ackley)
Firewood Processing (Hudson Wood Processing)
Spinning Demonstrations (Pam Sweetser)
3 p.m.: Live Music (The Jim Wright Band)
Hay Baling (Horse-Drawn Inline Massey Fergeson baler*)
Chair Making (Terry Kelly)
Horse Shoeing (Gary Sweetser)
4 p.m.: Live Music (Open Jam Session)
Sunday, July 1
10 a.m.: Firewood Processing (Hudson Wood Processing)
Chair Making (Terry Kelly)
Spinning Demonstrations (Pam Sweetser)
11 a.m.: Digging Potatoes (One-Row Horse-Drawn Digger*)
Picking Potatoes (Immediately following digging*)
Horse Dentistry (Steve Ackley)
Noon: Live Music (Carol Ayoob)
Horse Shoeing (Gary Sweetser)
Wood Milling (Wood Mizer)
Spinning Demonstrations (Pam Sweetser)
1 p.m.: Live Music (Paul Clayton and Friends)
Chair Making (Terry Kelly)
2 p.m.: Live Music (The Jim Wright Band)
Horse Dentistry (Steve Ackley)
Firewood Processing (Hudson Wood Processing)
3 p.m.: Live Music (The Jim Wright Band)
Hay Baling (Horse-Drawn Inline Massey Fergeson baler*)
Horse Shoeing (Gary Sweetser)
Wood Milling (Wood Mizer)
Ongoing events Saturday from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. include horse-drawn wagon rides, Antique Tractor Club tractor train rides, plowing demonstrations, children’s play area and activities, Tim Caverly book signing of “Allagash Tales,” discussion on healing with herbs, farm animal area, Wood Mizer will demonstrate anytime upon request.
*Some demonstrations are weather dependent.
