2010 Dallas Harvest Festival offers something for everyone

By SARAH HITE shite@mydallaspost.com

There will be plenty to do at this year’s Dallas Harvest Festival and patrons will enjoy new features added to the eight-year-old celebration of everything Dallas.

From an expanded entertainment area to splashy fundraising efforts, the Dallas Harvest Festival will keep anyone who moseys onto Main Street smiling.

Family walk

On September 18, a day before the festival, patrons can explore the back woods of the Back Mountain at the first Family Fun Walk at the Back Mountain Trail. The event, sponsored by the Back Mountain Business Association (BMBA), is a chance for families to see what the area has to offer.

“We decided it would be fun for families who have not yet walked the trail,” said Diane Dreier, walk coordinator.

Walkers will receive a water bottle filled with coupons from BMBA businesses upon their arrival to the trail. The trail is also equipped for geocaching, a worldwide treasure hunt. Geocaches are containers filled with some sort of “treasure” and hunters find them using global positioning devices (GPS). When one finds a geocache, one must place something of equal or greater value into the container.

In addition to the quest for keepsakes, the Back Mountain Trail is also associated with the Keystone Active Zone 2010 Passport Program. This is another type of scavenger hunt located within Luzerne County and participants must register online to join the fun. Visitors to the trail can earn points and prizes in this program.

The walk will begin at 10 a.m. at the Luzerne entrance to the trail and will end at the Trucksville entrance near Pizza Perfect. The walk from Luzerne to Trucksville is about two miles.

Photography contest

One addition to the fest is the first-ever Dallas Days Photography Contest. This year’s theme is “Capture the Beauty and Culture of the Back Mountain.” Camera-carrying creative-types of all ages and skill levels are encouraged to participate and photo contest coordinator Gina Major Ackerman hopes the display will offer a different creative aspect to the festival.

“It’s a visual history of the Back Mountain and the festival,” she said. The festival steering committee wanted to try something new this year and since many other area festivals feature art contests, the committee wanted to give it a shot.

Major Ackerman has a personal connection to the contest, though it hadn’t occurred to her right away.

“In my work-study job at Drexel, I was a photo lab coordinator,” she said.

Contestants will be judged by professional photographers and winners will be picked for first, second and third places. Winning shapshots will be featured in The Dallas Post. Camera clickers have until September 14 to submit their photos at two locations: the Dallas Borough Building at 25 Main St. in Dallas or Andy’s Photography at 5 Dug Rd. in Trucksville during regular business hours.

Photos can be no larger than 11 by 17 inches and entries must be matted and framed prior to submission. Entrants must be a current Back Mountain resident and a non-professional photographer and they can submit up to three photos for the contest. Photographers will be asked to sign a release form upon submission. All photos can be picked up the week after the festival.

Dunk tank

The best photos might be snapped at the festival – but bring a waterproof camera. Elizabeth Martin, festival coordinator, has announced that there will be a dunk tank at this year’s Main Street celebration to raise money for the festival and Dallas Fire & Ambulance.

The dunk tank will replace the annual dance at the fest.

Dunkees will be “pretty big names” in the Dallas community, including Frank Galicki, Dallas School District superintendent.

“He’s a really good sport,” Martin said of Galicki. “More people are being open to suggestion (to be dunked).”

The fire company will use the money raised to restore Old Mac, an old-time fire truck that has been a favorite of children who attend the festival.

More entertainment, vendors

Rich Fufaro, sub-committee chairman for vendors at the festival, is frazzled but excited about the new offerings this year.

There will be an addition of 12 booths as a result of the expansion of the festival. The upper parking lot of Dallas Center Hardware on Main Street has been donated for six vendors and an entertainment area. Constables will direct foot traffic through Mill Street.

Organizers of the Dallas Harvest Festival are proud of the first expansion in eight years.

“We’ve always been trying to figure out how to expand without becoming dangerous,” said Fufaro.

The new spot on Main Street will give patrons extra leg room while still maintaining the personality of the event. This is something Fufaro wants to preserve, as other festivals in the area will occur during the month of September and the Dallas Harvest Festival stands apart from the rest.

A new pub and eatery, Dallas Tap and Grill on Main Street, will provide its newly-paved driveway to the event which will also allow for more vendors. The tap and grill will be open during the festival.

“Previously, we’ve had to grow from within,” said Martin. “We’re very happy we’re able to move higher on Main Street.”

Sale site

Fufaro wants businesses to know about a new promotional tool on the Dallas Harvest Festival website ( www.dallasharvestfestival.com). Businesses can add information about special offers at the Sidewalk Sale during Dallas Days. Patrons can click on “Sidewalk Sale” on the site and view what businesses are offering during the three-day sale.

More information about the Dallas Harvest Festival can be found on the fest’s website or by calling 675-1950.