We prepared our Up North Flannels for weeks leading up to the Harvest Festival. We planned to arrive at the site by 7:00 a.m. to allow plenty of set-up time without rushing. At 6:38, we jumped out of bed like that crazy scene in “Home Alone” – “We slept in!!” and scrambled to get out the door.

I looked at the weather app Friday night, so I knew it was going to get windy later in the morning. I just didn’t anticipate that kind of wind! Some canopies didn’t survive, but I had heavy weights tied to each leg of our tent, so we made it through without too much trouble. I also underestimated how cold the wind would feel. To finally get comfortable, I ended up with a t-shirt, long-sleeve t-shirt, my Up North Flannel, a hooded sweatshirt, a down vest, and my heavy winter coat. Ahhh, finally snug as a bug in a rug. Oh, and a big thermos of hot chocolate helped.

This was our first experience as a vendor at the Harvest Festival. Those responsible for organizing the event did an incredible job. There were many activities throughout the village. The vendor fair was designed perfectly with each spot mapped and numbered for easy reference.

There was another food vendor who sold tiny donuts and they were warm and delicious. We didn’t try the french fries from the next vendor but we saw lots of people carrying trays of fries and they looked good.

Midway through the afternoon, a small music combo began setting up their gear right behind us. I’l be honest, my first thought was, “Oh great, this is gonna be awful.” Wow, was I stupid! These three guys were amazing! They covered songs from the Beatles, to Bob Seger, to Roy Orbison, and lots of others in between. It was probably my imagination from knowing so many of the songs, but with each one, the lead singer’s voice sounded just like the original!