|
12th
Annual Ohio Pawpaw Festival will be held September 17, 18 &
19, 2010!
Since 1999, Chris Chmiel of Integration Acres Ltd.
has been working with great folks in his local community
to help educate and celebrate the pawpaw!
The cornerstones of the festival have been the best
pawpaw competition, the pawpaw cook-off and the pawpaw
eating contest.
Over the years, the event has expanded to include
educational workshops, quality live music, talented
artisans selling their wares, kids’ games and activities,
food vendors and, of course, the pawpaw beer garden.
The history
Twelve years ago, Chris, along with members of the
Albany Business & Community Development committee and the
Albany Riding Club, organized and sponsored a one-day
festival on Sunday, October 10, 1999.
It rained for most of the day, but the event was a
success and a tradition was born.
Highlights included judges from Better Homes and
Garden magazines, The Washington Post and the
Athens County Convention and Visitors Bureau.
A year later, Chris again worked with a few members
of the Albany Riding Club to host another one-day event on
Saturday, September 16, 2000.
Highlights from this year’s event included a grant
from the Ohio Arts Council for heritage demonstrations.
Judges for the festival included Sue Dawson, food
editor for the Columbus Dispatch.
By 2001, the Ohio Pawpaw Festival moved to its
current location at Lake Snowden, with the newly created
Ohio Pawpaw Growers Association (OPGA) as its fiscal
agent. This
year’s event was held just days after the terrorist
attacks of 9/11.
Festivalgoers were able to talk and heal under
sunny, blue skies.
Judges included Jenny Pavlasek of Ohio Magazine.
The first two-day Ohio Pawpaw Festival debuted in
2002. Again we
were blessed with wonderful weather.
Judges included John Mara of WSAZ News, Leslie
Lilly of The Foundation of Appalachia Ohio and Ted Lee,
freelance food writer for The New York Times.
In 2003, judges included Fred Dailey, Director of
the Ohio Department of Agriculture, Suzanne Martinson,
Food Writer from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and
Amy Viny, a food writer from the Cleveland area.
Hurricane Ivan dumped five inches of rain on Athens
County the day before the 2004 festival.
High water prevented travel into the area, greatly
diminishing attendance.
This year’s judges included Ohio State House
Representative Jimmy Stewart, sponsor of a bill to make
the pawpaw the official state fruit of Ohio.
In 2005, Ohio food writer and author Mary Lou
Suszko served as a judge.
The 8th Annual Ohio
Pawpaw Festival in 2006 saw a brief change in management
when Snowville Creamery took the lead role as organizer
and major sponsor. This year the Pawpaw Green Woman logo
took center stage as the face of this memorable event.
This year was saw 15 kegs of pawpaw wheat beer consumed
over two days!
In 2007, Ohio’s Hill Country Heritage Area program
became the chief sponsor of the festival.
We were pleased to offer a musical and audio CD
with pawpaw testimonials and selections from all the
bands. By 2008
the festival had added the Pawpaw Double Nickel Bike Ride
and the Ohio Country Fair tent, which offered a broad
array of educational workshops.
We also collaborated with Ohio University’s Office
of Sustainability to create a shuttle service to and from
Athens, allowing more college students to attend the
festival.
The 2009 festival was the best to date, with record
attendance and appearances by Ohio Rep. Debbie Phillips
and Ohio Sen. Jimmy Stewart.
Mr. Stewart has supported the festival from the
get-go, and he was on hand to present Chris Chmiel with
the official proclamation designating the pawpaw as the
state native fruit of Ohio.
(Earlier in 2009, Ohio Governor Ted Strickland
signed a bill making it so!)
Eighteen kegs of pawpaw wheat beer disappeared
before nightfall, and the expanded ‘Kids Zone’ kept
families busy all day.
So what’s new for 2010?
We’re adding a special Friday evening component to
the festival in the form of a musical act yet to be
announced.
Check back here or at the Ohio Pawpaw Festival site for
details as they become available.
www.ohiopawpawfest.com
(The Ohio Pawpaw FestivalSM
is a service mark of Chris Chmiel.)
|
