Kootenai Harvest Festival continues to flourish
<p>April Rainey in farming costume, selling vegetables and fruits from Joanne Fry's Garden of Eatin’. (Bethany Rolfson/The Western News)</p>
<p>Bags of green beans, sold by Hungry Mountain Farm at the harvest festival. (Bethany Rolfson/The Western News)</p>
<p>“Steampunk” lamps, handmade by Freddie Phillips’ Hummingbird Haven Designs. (Bethany Rolfson/The Western News)</p>
<p>Linda Alkire and Mark Powell selling fruits and vegetables from the Libby Community Garden. (Bethany Rolfson/The Western News)</p>
<p>Valerie and Jerry Cornwall-Brady of Yaak Valley Log Works, in their Kootenai Harvest Festival booth. Jerry is the craftsman, and Valerie creates the wood-burning designs. (Bethany Rolfson/The Western News)</p>
Harvest Seven
Hundreds of people walked through the Kootenai Harvest Festival on Friday, where homemade goods and organic produce were available to purchase from over 20 vendors.
The event organizers were “blown away” by the amount of vendors and people.
“There’s just so much negativity in Libby...we want to come together and promote a good image for the community,” April Rainey, one of the event organizers, said on Friday as the Harvest Festival got underway.
Yaak Valley Log Works, McLaury Apiaries, Hummingbird Haven Designs, JoAnne Fry’s Garden of Eatin’, Hungry Mountain Farm, Farm to Market Store & Bakerty/Deli and many more set up tents during the festival.
The Libby Community Garden set up a booth during the festival, to raise money for their future planned expansion.
“This is what it’s about. [The garden] is all about growing community,” Linda Alkire, founder of the community garden said.
Most of the vendors sold fresh produce and baked goods, but some sold hand-made items such as Kaylee Kahl, who sold her very-own clay figurines.
Husband and wife of 50 years, Brady and Freddie Phillips, set up booths next to each other to sell her steampunk-style items and his metalwork.
“I’m glad to see people come out,” Brady said. “It’s really neat.”
Reporter Bethany Rolfson may be reached at 293-4124 or by email at Reporter@TheWesternNews.com