Rachel Louchen reports from Great Barrington. If a farmer is supposed to go to bed early and rise with the sun, no one told the ones that came out in droves on Monday night, September 21 for the annual Berkshire GrownHarvest Supper at Ski Butternut. Of course, if they were to stay up for any event, it would be one by Berkshire Grown, which has supported the local food movement for nearly 20 years, making the organization synonymous with locavore in our region. In addition to networking and advocating for farmers and promoting locally grown food, Berkshire Grown is also famous for its annual Harvest Supper, which brought in 31 diverse food vendors for its 17th year. It was truly the who's who of Berkshire County cuisine, featuring known and loved establishments like Allium and Martin's Restaurant, daily standbys Guido's and Berkshire Co-Op and new kid on the block Eat On North. Locally produced beverages were represented by Big Elm Brewery and Berkshire Mountain Distillers. Above, Berkshire Grown's executive director Barbara Zheutlin, board president Allison Rachele Bayles, Barbara's husband, realtor Jonathan Hankin and Hester Velmans, a board member.
Farmer Jan Johnson of Mill River Farm with enthusiastic tasters Wendy Linscott and Enid Michaelman.
Great Barrington residents Miles Weber and Mika Mintz; Six Depot Roastery and Cafe proprietors Flavio Lichtenthal and Lisa Landry kept the java coming.
Robin Ban, owner of Seeds in Great Barrington with Eva Bartschi, visiting from Switzerland; Glenn Geiger, who designed Berkshire Grown's website, with his wife Nicole Geiger.
Farm Girl Farm(ers)Natanah Rothberg and Hannah Karcheski flank Equinox Farm's Ted Dobson.
Cafe Adam'sAdam Zieminski (a Berkshire Grown board member) and Colleen Fernback got the jump on autumn by serving chocolate-dipped apples; Lucy and Brian Rollins of Peace Valley Farm in Williamstown.
Maddie Elling of Hosta Hill with Kelly Perkins, the daughter of a farmer; Malcolm and Martha Flick came out to support their neighbor, Barbara Zheutlin, here with violin maker Francis Morris.
Farmer Jessica Camp and Steph Moran of MX Morningstar Farm in Copake.
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Matteline deVries-Dilling, founder of Lite Brite Neon, one of the evening's honoree of this year's Upstate Benefit adresses the gala from the Caboose's caboose.
- Karen Pearson. Courtesy Art Omi.
Olana senior vice president and landscape curatorMark Prezorski, president Sean Sawyer, The evenings honoree Kristin Gamble and New York State Assemblymember Didi Barrett.
- Oxygen House Photo
