Though it says October on the calendar, the feel in the air – not to mention the temperature on the thermometer – has felt more like summer for the past couple of weeks.
But local families didn’t let the weather stop them from attending the Harvest on Main, hosted in the city’s Main Street Park on Sunday, Oct. 6.
Put on by the Chamber of Commerce, the event gives kids the chance to take part in a costume contest, decorate a pumpkin to take home, enjoy some crafts and more.
This year, Chamber officials also had an extra feature, opening up the Harvest on Main to vendors for a mini-Farmers Market, along with having some food trucks and beverage vendors.
Offered from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., it was a decent sized crowd that came in to enjoy the activities and get in a little shopping at the same time.
Showcasing their Halloween spirit, vendors Alexandra Bouchard and Lynnae Foggiato from Tracy offered plants, necklaces, crystals and more at their booth and also showed up wearing pointed elf ears.
“It’s a very good vibes business for sure,” Bouchard said of their items for sale.
“They’re either attracted to the crystals, the energy, or both so there’s a little bit for everybody,” Foggiato added.
They do primarily online sales, noting that the Harvest on Main was just their second in person event.
Elsewhere, with a variety of homemade hair clips, signature saying hats, and more, vendor Alexis Belman of 3Beats was happy to set up shop for the day on Sunday.
“I love meeting people, I very much like to get in here with the local people, say hi, show my face; that way everybody knows the face behind the business,” Belman said. “I love making the connections.”
Flowers, homemade treats, and photographic prints by Escalon resident Tom Machado were among the offerings from vendors. Local artist Sonya Huff also had her face painting booth, doing a brisk business.
One of the youngsters getting her face painted was Nevayah Savage, 4, sitting still – much to the surprise of her mom – while having the colorful design applied.
And as many toured the vendor booths, whether eating some pizza made on site or heading to the Kona shave ice truck to try and beat the heat, there were also awards being handed out in a variety of age and costume categories on the Main Street stage.
Miss Escalon and her court served as judges and medals went to those wearing costumes judged the scariest, funniest and cutest.
Taking home the honors as the youngest in costume were Luke Strasser, 1, as Peter Pan; and Laken Strasser, 2, as Wendy. Big brother Liam, 4, went as Captain Hook. Luke and Laken didn’t make it to the stage for their medals, but Liam did, as the entire family went home winners.
Adults were also on hand to help with the carving of the pumpkins, and plenty of stickers, googly eyes and other decorations were provided for kids to make each pumpkin distinctly their own design.
