Homesteader Days Festival: Park County celebrates agricultural heritage during annual festival
The Homesteader Museum and Park County Travel Council have teamed up once again to host the Homesteader Days Festival Sept. 13-14 in Powell.
The festival is an annual celebration of the area’s agricultural heritage – a robust farming community nestled between the Absarokas to the west and the Big Horn Mountains to the east.
In 1909, the Shoshone Reclamation Project opened lands in the Big Horn Basin to farming, which consisted of lettings in the Powell Flat, Deaver, Frannie, Willwood, North End and Heart Mountain.
Park County’s abundant water supply and efficient irrigation systems, which stem from three major rivers – the Greybull River, the Shoshone River and the Clark’s Fork River – has enabled both farming and ranching operations to thrive.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Agricultural Statistic Service’s 2017 Census of Agriculture, land in farms makes up 929,926 acres of Park County’s total 3,349,120 acres, with 46,573 acres used to grow hay and haylage; 19,091 acres of barley for grain; 10,240 acres of sugarbeets for sugar; 9,930 acres of dry edible beans and 5,188 acres of field and grass seed crops.
The county ranks first in the state for aquaculture; second in total crops sold, production of milk from cows, poultry and eggs and fruits, tree nuts and berries; third in hogs and pigs and vegetables, melons, potatoes and sweet potatoes; fourth in total market value of agricultural products sold, grains, oilseeds, dry beans and dry peas and fifth in nursery, greenhouse, floriculture and sod.
Farm-to-Table Dinner
To kick off the Homesteader Days Festival, the museum will host an outdoor Farm-to-Table Dinner on Sept. 13 at 6 p.m. at the Park County Fairgrounds in Powell.
The meal will feature locally-grown produce and meat sourced from Sarah Bear’s Farmhouse Kitchen, and there will be a no-host bar.
Individuals must be 21 or older to attend and the cost of attendance is $50 per person.
Dinner tickets can be purchased online at homesteadermuseum.com until Aug. 31.
Saturday’s events
On Sept. 14, the streets surrounding the Homesteader Museum will come alive with bustling steam tractors, the smell of fresh-popped kettle corn and music from the Rewinders.
Artisans and vendors will line the streets, selling hand-crafted specialty items, and food trucks will fill the parking lot behind Pathfinders and next to the Eagles building.
“Demonstrators will show visitors memories of yesteryear, from weavers and spinners to blacksmiths. Information booths for local nonprofit organizations and museums will share their events and family-fun activities happening in the Big Horn Basin,” explains Homesteader Museum Director and Curator Brandi Wright.
“Kids games and activities will fill the air with laughter, featuring face painting by St. John’s Episcopal Church, a cupcake walk by the Rotary Club, a prize wheel from the Park County Library and a barrel train by the Knights of Columbus,” Wright continues.
The Eagles’ Aerie #2426 will host the Vehicle Visions Car, Truck and Tractor Show throughout the day, as well as a pancake breakfast, which is open to the public, from 8-10 a.m.
From 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., the Homesteader Museum will hold a silent auction fundraiser in the back courtyard, and from 12:30-1:15 p.m., the Homesteader Museum and the Park County Museum Board will hand out free root beer floats.
Starting at 1:30 p.m., the Ruby Hopkin Commemorative Pie Auction will begin raising funds for the Homesteader Museum. Wright notes the homemade pies are made by members of the community, as well as family members of the beloved Ruby Hopkin who bake her recipes.
Individuals in the area and visitors passing through should be sure to stop at the Homesteader Days Festival Sept. 13-14 to honor the rich agricultural heritage of Park County and the state of Wyoming as a whole.
Hannah Bugas is the managing editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup. Send comments on this article to roundup@wylr.net.
