Mountain Harvest is all about community - Delta County Independent
People have been coming to Paonia for the annual Mountain Harvest Festival since 2001. In fact, it has grown to be one of the most attended events in Delta County.
Mountain Harvest Festival, founded by Rick Stockton and Helen Highwater, shows all who attend the abundance of the harvest in the North Fork Valley. And it's a harvest of every variety, with the harvest of fruits and vegetables, written poetry and prose, music, art and fashion design. It's a harvest of great times with neighbors and the making of new out-of-town friends.
Mountain Harvest Festival has become an important economic boon to the entire county. The festival generated over $85,000 during the 2009 festival and an estimated $250,000 during the 2010 festival.
Mountain Harvest Festival is a non-profit public charity which helps other non-profits and local businesses. Among the non-profits the festival helps are the Paonia Library Foundation, KVNF Community Radio, North Fork Community Montessori School, the Rotary Club of Paonia, the Blue Sage Center for the Arts, Kids' Pasta Project and Valley Organic Growers Association (VOGA). The Mountain Harvest Festival awards scholarships to students interested in the study of agriculture, thus preparing the valley's next generation of farmers and ranchers.
The festival itself, being a non-profit, is in need of tax-deductible donations. Costs have risen for advertising, poster and program printing, tent and venue rentals, concert musicians and sound reinforcement. It takes 1,000 hours just for festival administration. A festival director is now required to organize and coordinate the many festival events and the army of volunteers.
Primary funding for the Mountain Harvest Festival comes from tickt sales at the Saturday Night Concerts with 16 bands at four venues in downtown Paonia, from the sale of festival merchandise, and from sponsorships and donations.
If you would like to learn more about this great four-day festival, check out the DCI's special section dedicated to the festival on pages B4-8.
Their website is located at www.mountainharvestfestival.org.
Most of all, come out and encounter the Mountain Harvest Festival for yourself this Thursday through Sunday.
23 Sep, 2011--
Source: http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNEZ5GmildYZhzyqRBF0RGMuOPte1w&url=http://www.deltacountyindependent.com/news/north-fork/23424-mountain-harvest-is-all-about-community.html
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