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The Streets Come Alive As Apple Harvest Festival Opens

  • Philip Thibodeau
  • Oct 5
  • 2 min read
The view down center street Friday at dusk				CT DRONE SOURCE PHOTO
The view down center street Friday at dusk CT DRONE SOURCE PHOTO

Crowds gathered downtown under cloudless skies Friday evening and all day Saturday to celebrate the 56th Southington Apple Harvest Festival.

 

Among the many centers of attention Friday night were two Connecticut artists. Blacksmith Dyami Kelly-Clark traveled from Shelton with his portable forge and tools to offer live demonstrations of the art of metalwork:

 

													CT DRONE SOURCE PHOTO
CT DRONE SOURCE PHOTO

Meanwhile singer-songwriter Morgan Chambers took to the main stage to perform her repertoire of guitar ballads:

 

												PHILIP THIBODEAU PHOTO
PHILIP THIBODEAU PHOTO

The line at Zion Lutheran's apple fritter booth wound around the corner with anywhere from 50 to 100 customers waiting to place their orders at any given time:

 

													CT DRONE SOURCE PHOTO
CT DRONE SOURCE PHOTO

Work in the fritter booth can be hot and less than glamorous:

 

												CT DRONE SOURCE PHOTO
CT DRONE SOURCE PHOTO

Nevertheless, volunteers do it to build community, raise funds, and provide patrons warm bits of delight.

 

Arts-and-crafts enthusiasts were presented a wealth of choices. Tents in front of First Congregational were aglow with jewelry and other creations:

 

													CT DRONE SOURCE PHOTO
CT DRONE SOURCE PHOTO

The galleries at SoCCA were also buzzing as customers from all over the state eyed paintings, pottery and other crafts:


													CT DRONE SOURCE PHOTO
CT DRONE SOURCE PHOTO

To be sure, not everyone in town was on the lookout for fritters and crafts Friday night. At the high school gym, for example, girls volleyball was taking part in Dig Pink, a charity tournament designed to support breast-cancer research:


														CT DRONE SOURCE
CT DRONE SOURCE

On Saturday the festivities continued. Vendors packed the space at the American Legion hall. Southington author Michael Robling was there promoting his dinosaur-world fantasy novel The Tyrant King:

 

													PHILIP THIBODEAU PHOTO
PHILIP THIBODEAU PHOTO

Next to him Emily of Emily Rae Crafts was peddling her handknit pieces:

 

													PHILIP THIBODEAU PHOTO
PHILIP THIBODEAU PHOTO

Most of the adjacent parking lot at 22 Main was occupied by an obstacle course created by Plainville-based Grit ‘n Wit. Teams of contestants were greeted by Josh, who explained to them how to make their way through the course while solving a mix of mental and physical puzzles:


													PHILIP THIBODEAU PHOTO
PHILIP THIBODEAU PHOTO

Whether day or night, a K-9 unit from the Southington Police Department was on hand to keep watch over the lively but peaceful festival.


												CT DRONE SOURCE PHOTO
CT DRONE SOURCE PHOTO

For more photography by CT Drone Source, see this link.

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