Harvest Festival

Was held -- Saturday, October 24 from 12-4pm

McCaffrey's Dolce Vita wins soup cook-off at Seed Savers' Harvest Fest

$1,373 raised for area food banks (All recipes will be posted on this web site soon!)

More than 800 visitors were on hand at Seed Savers Exchange's annual Harvest Festival on Saturday, October 24. Activities included garden and seed saving workshops, tours of the historic apple orchard, as well as cooking and cider making demonstrations.

While the Western Home String Band provided background music, many festival-goers participated in the Harvest Soup Cook-off - a competition among six Decorah restaurants each making their own harvest soup recipe out of Crookneck Squash provided by Seed Savers. McCaffrey's Dolce Vita restaurant narrowly won out over the other contestants, Cafe Magpie, Java John's, La Rana Bistro, Oneota Food Coop, and T-Bock's Sports Bar and Grill.

While McCaffrey's won bragging rights and the Harvest Festival trophy until next year's event, the big winner was area food banks who will benefit from the $1373 donated by the participating soup samplers.

Children enjoyed pumpkin carving activities, hay rides and trying on fire fighting gear provided by the Frankville Volunteer Fire Department, who were on hand promoting fire safety during October Fire Prevention Month.

Nancy Kiefer (below) from Rockford, Illinois, won the giant pumpkin sculpture created by Lynn Staley.

Mark your calendars now for Harvest Festival 2010, Saturday, October 2