Feasting for a cause

The 13th annual Harvest Feastival, sponsored by the Moorcroft Area Chamber of Commerce, was held in last Saturday. Long time co-organizer Elaine Buckmiller stated, “For having the year we’ve had, we – the chamber and the feastival committee – consider it a pretty good success. We had to adjust some things because of the COVID-19 and we feel that we did a very good job protecting the people who participated.”

Tables were laden with 16 different offerings of homemade savory soups and breads and, regardless of how guests approached the matter, dishing up a specific favorite or tasting a bit of each one in the entire line, Marge Reed’s cheeseburger chowder was voted People’s Choice Favorite.

A plethora of contributions for the live and silent auctions was presented for bid as well as door prizes. “The people who donated were more than generous considering the year they’ve had,” Buckmiller spoke appreciatively. “Everybody stepped up. We should be very proud of our community for supporting a very, very worthwhile cause.”

All funds raised at the Harvest Feastival go to purchasing needed foodstuffs for the Christmas Baskets and the Angel Tree in December for kids who may not have enough over the holiday season.

In the scarecrow contest, first prize went to Ellis Wood; second, Pinnacle Bank; and third to Coffee Cup Fuel Stop. The prizes consisted of differing amounts in Moorcroft Bucks for the winners, to be redeemed at any business in town.

Kristen Keeline won the contest for guessing “how many in the jar” and the $500 cash prize winner was Charity Stewart, who later donated $100 back to the holiday food program.

Buckmiller noted that everyone seemed “to have a good time.” She also commended the Moorcroft High School extracurricular clubs whose members volunteered as servers and over all help for the event.

DDS Lucas Kaufman, who, with the help of the Moorcroft Public Library and other local businesses, has hosted the Kids’ Festival as a street event on South Big Horn Avenue a couple hours before the Feastival for the last couple of years, attributed the drop in numbers to the colder weather.

“[It] was about 40 degrees with light snow so we moved it inside the Moorcroft Family Dentistry shop and turned the heat up,” Kaufman said.

The event was still a hit with the attendees with pumpkin bowling, pumpkin ring toss, donut turkey making and face painting. “We had a decent turn out, but it was tough with the weather.”