Country Fall Festival draws hungry crowd
ZELIENOPLE — For some people, going to the Zelienople Harmony Country Fall Festival is an annual appointment.
“I put it on my calendar every year,” said Kelly Jackson of Pittsburgh.
The event was held Saturday and Sunday, mainly along Main Street in Zelienople and Main and Mercer streets in Harmony. Organizers predicted that the 30th annual festival could bring more than 10,000 people.
“Everything seems to be going well,” said Susan Reimer, an organizer.
The event, sponsored by the business association of the Zelienople Harmony Area Chamber of Commerce, featured several food and craft vendors, historical re-enactors, musical performances and children's activities. On Saturday, members of the Amish community prepared food, and on Sunday a car cruise was held at Creekside Plaza.
Jackson said she first came to the event because her mother, who lives in Butler, brought her there one year. Since then, she has gone to enjoy the food, vendors and to get a Halloween pumpkin.
“I just come almost every single year,” Jackson said. “I like the small town of Zelienople.”
Jeff Szakelyhidi is a lifelong Zelienople area resident, so he is a longtime regular at the event. Like many, he digs the food, particularly the fudge.
Over the years, he said the festival has stayed fairly constant, but he said the crowd has grown. He said this probably is due in part by the growth of Cranberry Township.
“There's just a lot more people around the area to attend this,” Szakelyhidi said.
Steve Love of Cranberry Township comes to the event regularly, mainly because his wife, Lynn, is into the craft vendors.“She does a lot of knitting for various things,” Love said.He manages to find things he likes too. particularly food, and even more particularly, the Amish doughnuts.Josh Inman of Harmony said the event is great for children.“The atmosphere is family. Especially the pony rides,” Inman said.His daughter, Kylee, 4, said she was extremely excited to ride on a pony. Inman said he was among the many people to get some of the Amish doughnuts too.Debbie Putch of the North Hills also braved the long line Saturday morning for doughnuts. She was rewarded with a large bag of fresh fried Amish goodness. She also said she bought some sauerkraut at the festival.Putch said she feels the event has the old, the new and just the right ambience.“It has a mixture of everything,” Putch said.
