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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels September 10, 2004 Talent Harvest Festival celebrates community By Steve Zimmerman Ashland Daily Tidings For the past 30 years, the residents of Talent have celebrated their community during their annual Harvest Festival. For the 31st edition of the festival, Saturday, plenty of food fun and music is planned. "It all kicks off with the Talent Lions Club breakfast at 6 a.m.," said Cheryl Nicolay, assistant to city manager Betty Wheeler. "The parade begins at 10 with the Phoenix High School Band and we will have more than 20 entries in the parade. Then we have approximately 29 vendors set up on I Street with a food court, informational booths, children's activities, a showing of the model of the new civic center and three bands playing throughout the day in Library Park." A 5K race begins at 9 a.m. at the Old Town Park on Main Street by the Depot. Registration begins at 8:15. Entry is $8, with proceeds going to the Talent Parks and Recreation Department. Following the parade, there will be a special ceremony commemorating Sept. 11 in front of the Community Hall. "We will have a lot of emergency response vehicles and military taking part," Nicolay said. In the past, volunteers did all the planning of the festivals. But according to Wheeler, that changed five years ago. It was initially started by the citizens," Wheeler said. "But four or five years ago, the volunteers came to the city and said they could no longer do the festival so the city took over." Since then, Wheeler and others in the city have attempted to get residents more involved as it is a long process. "Some of the planning for this year started right after the festival ended last year,' Wheeler said. "Booking the entertainment begins in January. They listen to tapes of bands and if there is a band that people liked, then they try to get them committed for the next year. Entertainment is the biggest part of the festival to plan." Last year's festival had more people than ever. Wheeler said they came early for breakfast and stayed longer. Last year, a change was made on the parade route and because it was popular, that route will be used again. "The parade will start at the elementary school, goes down Wagner Street where it turns left onto Talent Avenue and ends at the Talent Friends Church," Wheeler said. The Talent Lions Club will hold another one of their Lumberjack Breakfasts in conjunction with the festival at the Talent Civic Center. Ron Ridgeway has been a chef at the breakfast for six years. "It used to be held the day after the festival," he said. "I think this is the third year we have done the breakfast on Saturday. We switched because people requested breakfast on Saturday. We tried it, it was successful and it is one of our better lumberjack breakfasts. Last year we served somewhere close to 300 people." Ridgeway said the breakfast and festival are important to the city. "I think it creates a sense of community," he said. "We know in our breakfast, it is basically a lot of people who are neighbors or haven't seen each other in three months since the last breakfast. They get together and share what is happening. And it is a family event." Breakfast, including pancakes, eggs, ham and drinks, will be served from 6 a.m. to 11 a.m. The cost is $3 for adults and $2 for children. The breakfast is a fundraiser for the Lions Club charities. DailyTidings.com Home Page Valley&State | Backpage | O&E | Sports | Archives | Weather | Classifieds Columnists | Faith&Beliefs | Obituaries | Revels | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2004 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Click Here Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams