SPECIAL SECTION, SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2007 PAGE 4 D®L.LAS HARVEST FESTIVAL © CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK/ DALLAS POST FILE PHOTO Shannon Zekoski, of Harding, helped her grandmother and grandfather sell their homegrown vegetables at the 2005 Dallas Harvest Festival. Main Street in the bor- ough will once again be lined with fresh produce, food and one-of-a-kind items on Sunday, Sept. 16, for the Fifth Annual Dallas Harvest Festival. A community comes together Fresh fruits and vegetables will soon be sold at a farmers market in Dallas. Residents will compete to see who can make the tastiest chili, children will perform and businesses will have their merchandise on-hand on Sunday, Sept. 16 — all part of the Fifth Annual Dallas Harvest Fes- tival. The popular Back Mountain event has only been in existence for five years. A committee that was part of a community visioning program in 2002 looked at the revital- ization of downtown Dallas Borough and decid- ed the borough would hold a large block party REBECCA BRIA | rbria@timesleader.com to bring attention to the downtown and rein- force the connection of the land and communi- ty. The first Dallas Harvest Festival Committee was formed in February 2003 to plan for a Sep- tember event that year vent. The block party would close Main Street which would be lined with produce vendors under tents. In order to obtain maximum attendance, the festival was scheduled for the Sunday of the weekend in-be- tween the Luzerne County Fair and the Blooms- burg Fair. The plans were in place but no one knew what to expect. To the surprise of many, the first Dallas Har- vest Festival attracted roughly 5,000 people. In addition to produce, the event featured enter- tainment by children and the initial Kiss the Pig contest. Dallas Borough Manager Joe Mosko- vitz said the feedback from the first festival was very positive. “What they related to us was this harvest fes- tival reminded them of the old days of the Back Mountain Memorial Library Auction,” he said. See TOGETHER, Page 5
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