The Berlin Harvest Fest evolves into a 2-day festival
The 2019 Berlin Harvest Fest became a two-day event, which offered families both local and from far away a chance to test out plenty of barbecued chicken and ribs.
On Friday and Saturday, Sept. 6-7, Berlin was buzzing with activity as the annual fall festival came to town.
As usual Harvest Fest brought people from the area and from far away. Numerous tourists have penciled this weekend on their schedules, and this year’s perfect weather induced more than a few hungry souls to venture into Berlin.
On the streets of Berlin, nine different vendors set up shop for the annual barbecue rib burn-off with some familiar faces as well as some new ones.
However, the big news in this year’s event was the merchants decided to create a second day, which became a Friday event.
The idea of creating a second night grew out of the amount of effort it takes to put the event on.
“We felt that everybody in this area puts so much effort into this that at the end of the day you start to wonder if the whole one-and-done thing is worth it,” Berlin Main Street Merchants President Doug Burgess said. “So our board sat down and came up with a plan to introduce a second day. We voted on it, and all agreed it was well worth trying. It has worked out really well.”
Included in the Friday night line-up was a kids tractor pull, an auction that saw them auction off about 10 larger items and a barbecue contest of a different kind.
“We wanted to do something different than Saturday, so we held a chicken barbecue contest,” Burgess said.
Local favorite Byler’s BBQ took home the Judge’s Choice while Bogey’s Smokin’ BBQ from Port Clinton took home the top award for People’s Choice.
Brad Bognar, owner of Bogey’s, has been a part of the festival since day one. Bogey’s has been a favorite of both fans and judges over the years, having garnered several awards, but this was the first People’s Choice honor.
“We love it here, and the people here seem to enjoy what we bring to the weekend,” Bognar said. “We have won the Judge’s Choice a couple of times here, so to win the People’s Choice is exciting. We certainly are already looking forward to coming back again next year.”
The Friday evening festivities took on the flavor of more of a reunion, the streets filled with mostly locals who took advantage of the beautiful evening, the great food and the live music on the stage on the square. It was a more relaxed version of what came Saturday when nice weather ushered in the rib burn-off and the grand parade. It also was a time for the local community to throw their support behind two young area families facing financial needs due to medical issues.
A pair of local families were the recipients of the giving of those who participated in and set up the raffle. Cordell and Kayla Miller and their son Eden were the first family.
Eden suffered from a severe asthma attack when he was 5 months old. With weakened lungs he was intubated and rushed to Akron Children’s Hospital. Since that time Eden has been hospitalized countless times but continues to fight hard. Now 2 years old, Eden takes steroids and medication every day to strengthen his lungs.
While this is a condition that is expected to affect Eden his entire life, doctors are pleased with his progress.
The second family to receive a donation from the raffle is Ken and Jeannie Schlabach and their 11-year-old son Grady, who was diagnosed with post transplant lymphoproliferative disorder, large B-cell lymphoma, monomorphic.
Grady has been through a great deal in life, but with a wonderful attitude and God’s help, the family believes he will overcome this disease. Faced with growing medical and travel expenses, Burgess said it was an easy choice to bless the Schlabachs as well as the Millers.
Berlin Main Street Merchants member Missy Horsfall headed up the raffle portion of the weekend, and she said the success of the raffle was a true team effort.
“Carol and Paul Miller did a huge amount of work to get sponsors for the raffle, and they got a really great variety of nice items,” Horsfall said. “Everyone has really pitched in to make the raffle great. Between the raffle, the auction and our T-shirt sales, our fundraisers are really great.”
While the food, music and fellowship are the driving force that make Berlin Harvest Fest go, Horsfall said the fundraiser is the true meaning behind the weekend.
“Everything we raise goes to our two families, and this is one of the main reasons we really wanted to push for a two-day event,” Horsfall said. “We want to be able to help them, and the hearts of the people who chip in and help by giving is amazing. With all of the live music, food and especially the raffle for our families, it makes for a really wonderful weekend.”
The prize giveaway included a 90-second shopping spree at Walnut Creek Cheese, where one winner will eventually strap a go-pro on their head and freewheel through the store to pick up as many grocery items of their choice as they can.
“It is going to be so cool, and we are very excited to add that to our list of fun things,” Burgess said. “We are so appreciative of all of the Berlin Main Street merchants and their staff. Just look around at all of the neat things we have here and all of the things they donated to the raffle. That is people coming together to support our families in need.”
Burgess said the ultimate goal is to be able to write each family a check for $10,000.
With the perfect weekend weather and a packed town, they were certainly well on their way to meeting that goal.