Hundreds attend Maple Meadow Farm Festival

    MAPLETON, Maine – From tractors to mules, hamburgers to antiques, the first-ever Maple Meadow Farm Festival had something for everyone.
 “My mother-in-law, Miriam Gregg, and I were just talking one day and we thought this would be an event that we would like to attend, so we wanted to have something here … a celebration of old-time farming and things of the past … country camaraderie,” said Andrea Gregg, co-organizer of the June 30-July 1 event.
“We initiated the idea,” she said, “but it was a full family collaboration to pull it all off.”
Located on the Mapleton Road in Mapleton, the weekend event featured a variety of demonstrations, horse-drawn wagon rides, draft-horse farming, fieldwork with antique tractors, country cuisine, music, and more.
“Our theme was ‘Country Camaraderie: Celebrating Antiques, Uniques and Sweets,’” said Gregg. “Donna Keegan of Myrtle Tree was here with perennial plants, we had a potter, a spinner, a soap maker, and different vendors brought antiques to sell.
“We also had Dawn McPherson, a fiber artist who specializes in green fiber, and Natalia Bragg from Knot-II-Bragg Farm brought apothecary items,” she said. “We had hamburgers, hot dogs, whoopee pies, brownies, cookies, ice cream and soda for sale. We also had bluegrass bands each day.”
A number of plowing demonstrations were held over the weekend featuring antique tractors, horses and mules.
“We also had raking and hay baling demonstrations, wagon rides, and old tractors on display,” said Gregg. “Everyone I’ve heard from had a really fun time.”
Presque Isle’s Rodney Pelkey, 92, said he enjoyed watching the horses.
“I’m not too much on the tractors,” he said. “My grandson, Troy, restores them, but I really enjoy the horses. This brings back a lot of memories. I grew up with this stuff. It really brings back old times.
“They have some good music, too,” said Pelkey. “I used to play the accordion a little, so it’s nice hearing the bluegrass music.”
Catherine Packard of Mapleton attended the farm festival with her friend, Kim Wright.
“I thought it was a great little piece of history … what a great chance to see old times with new people,” said Packard, whose husband, Dana, is a farmer. “This was a good opportunity to be a part of the community … people getting together, young and old, talking about the good old times that some of us weren’t around for.
“The thing I really liked was how wide the rows were plowed with the old farm machinery,” she said. “If you drive by a field that’s just been plowed, the rows look nothing like that. It’s pretty neat.”
Gregg said she estimated that Saturday alone more than 600 people attended the first-ever event.
“We’re very happy with the turnout,” she said. “We kind of went out on a limb, but things have gone very well. ‘This is the best thing we’ve seen in a while’ has been a common comment. People really enjoyed seeing the tractors, the animals, and the demonstrations.
“Our family’s already been talking about doing it again next year,” said Gregg. “This was really more of a success than we had anticipated. We worked hard putting it together, and that hard work paid off. We really appreciate everyone who helped make it a success.”