Look Out For That…. CHEESE!
The star of the show.... THE CHEESECAKE. Kraft Cream Cheese is the reason for the festival. In addition to being a major sponsor, Kraft donates this ENORMOUS cheesecake. It's FREE - to the first 4,000 dessert lovers! Of course it's made with Kraft cream cheese.
Meet Darrin Zehr, manager of the Kraft Cream Cheese Plant in Lowville. He gets to officiate the cheesecake 'unveiling' - and award fabulous prizes to the recipe contest winners! First prize in any category is $500.
This is Eric Virkler, economic developer for the Town of Lowville. Eric is another festival founder. All the staff and volunteers wear those neat Cream Cheese shirts. It takes over 200 volunteers to run this festival, and this year many of them came from seven area high schools. YOU can be a volunteer for the 2012 festival!
The competition to win any category of the cream cheese recipe contest is INCREDIBLE! Great tasting entries are a given, but 1/3 of the scoring is for creativity. 1/3 is for presentation, and just 1/3 counts for flavor. It makes for gorgeous entries! Here's a behind-the-scenes look at the judging, taking place in the fire station:
There was cheesecake everywhere...even on a stick!
...and the now famous - or infamous - CREAM CHEESE TOSS!
Meet Roger Abbey, an original festival sponsor and volunteer extraordinaire. In spite of a major fire this past year which destroyed his business (Good Morning Realty), Roger is still a festival sponsor and dedicated volunteer. Say, isn't that an NCPR hat?
There were vendors of all kinds, including GOOD CHEESE from the Lowville Dairy Producers' CoOp.
Miz E-Z Squeezy was very popular. She's electric, of course. Got Milk?
There were pets:
This couple won the pet look-alike contest.
TERRIFIC music all day long. This is Gwen Tracy, of the Gwen Tracy Band from Inlet, NY.
LOTS OF HAPPY FESTIVAL-GOERS
... and just in case you need redemption after all the Saturday fun... all you need to do is turn on your radio.
Lowville really knows how to host a party. I hope to see YOU there next year!
