Fall festival returns with a bang

SALISBURY — After a two-year hiatus caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Salisbury Fall Festival returned over the Columbus Day weekend to fine weather and big crowds.

Friday, Oct. 7, was the warmest day, and a casual prowl around Main Street in Salisbury turned up colorful quilts at the Congregational Church, off-the-cuff history lessons from Lou Bucceri at the Salisbury Association, and used books at St. John’s Episcopal Church.

Saturday, Oct. 8, was packed. At 2 p.m., there were cars parked on either side of Route 44 to Salmon Kill Road and beyond. It was a similar situation on Factory/Washinee Street, and on Undermountain Road (Route 41) as far north as Conklin Street.

The Scoville Memorial Library lawn was a seething mass of humanity, much of it young and energetic.

The Salisbury Center School (SCS) eighth graders scored big with the popular and highly entertaining (for spectators, anyway) “Hit the Face with a Wet Sponge” game.

Indian Mountain School students guided the younger set in the manufacture of slime, in vivid colors. Slime consists of contact lens solution, baking soda and food coloring. Tiny little foam balls were optional.

Amelia Corrigan of Lakeville, age 5, showed a reporter her small tub of vivid teal-colored slime.

Elsewhere on the lawn small children decorated pumpkins under the aegis of SOAR, the SCS enrichment program.

The crowd was hungry. By 12:30 p.m., the Lakeville Hose Company Ladies Auxiliary had sold out of macaroni and cheese.

On a somber note, Larissa Vreeland and friends had a table in front of the General Store, dedicated to the cause of Nikki Addimando of Poughkeepsie, who fatally shot her partner to save her own life but has been sentenced to years in prison. (Go to www.westandwithnikki.com for more information.)

Magician Peter James plucked coins from ears and enlisted young assistants during his magic show by the church on Library Street, and a little later the Salisbury Band Quickstep Hotshots entertained the crowd with familiar tunes.

At 3 p.m. there was a new wrinkle for the festival. In the garden on the southwest side of the library, two iconic Martha Graham dances, “Lamentation” and “Satyric Festival Song,” were performed by members of Graham 2, a “pre-professional dance company drawn from the most advanced students of the Martha Graham school” (according to the Graham 2 website).

The Salisbury Artisans were set up (mostly) in front of the White Hart. Vendors hustled to keep up with the crowds.

Things were a bit more sedate on Sunday. The crowd at the White Hart was still robust, and the Joint Chiefs band began playing around 1 p.m.

Custom chairmaker Andrew Jack was entertaining a group of small boys from his work bench — and cautioning them to stand back.

Two Republican candidates for the state Legislature, state Rep. Stephen Harding (R-107), who is running for the state Senate, and Chris DuPont of Goshen, who is trying to unseat state Rep. Maria Horn (D-64), were doing some politicking on Main Street Sunday afternoon.

And at Satre Hill, the Salisbury Winter Sports Association Brew-Ski event had more than 30 breweries participating. A ticket bought access to live music, food and a tasting of the wide assortment of craft beers and ciders.

Pumpkin-flavored ales prevailed, with such options as “Pumpkin Roadsmary’s Baby” by Two Roads Brewing Company of Stratford.

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Students from Indian Mountain School ran a slime-making clinic during the Salisbury Fall Festival. Photo by Patrick L. Sullivan

Guests of the 12th annual Brew-Ski Fest sampled beers and ciders from over 30 breweries on Sunday, Oct. 9. Photo by Riley Klein

Students from Indian Mountain School ran a slime-making clinic during the Salisbury Fall Festival. Photo by Patrick L. Sullivan