Agudat Achim’s yearly fundraiser is a spirited celebration of the humble root vegetable
There is only one place to go this weekend if you are craving carrots.
Members of the Agudat Achim Congregation are holding their 32nd annual Carrot Festival on Sunday, Oct. 10, from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., rain or shine at the grounds of their synagogue. The event is free and offers families a day to enjoy some tasty carrot treats while listening to music and getting together with family and friends.
It is a fabulous family event, said festival co-chair Hillary Fink. `It truly brings the whole community together. There is something that could spark anybody’s interest.`
The signature dish of the festival is the carrot cake, which consists of two thick layers of cake with a rich praline filling and a cream cheese icing to top it off.
To prepare for the festival, 700 individual cakes were baked, along with 22 large sheet cakes. A total of 350 pounds of carrots were used for various food items in the festival.
`We use a lot of carrots,` said Anita Merims, baking coordinator and co-food coordinator for the festival.
There are also a variety of alternative carrot cakes, including banana chocolate chip carrot cake, pineapple carrot cake, chunky apple carrot cake and carrot pumpkin bread.
`All our cakes are good, and the signature carrot cake ` everybody loves that people wait all year to buy it,` said Merims.
The food tent holds many other food choices as well, including traditional Jewish dishes such as Tzimmes, Israeli Salad, hummus, falafel and beef brisket sandwiches. There will also be child-friendly foods such as hamburgers and hot dogs. For vegetarians there will be grilled portobello mushrooms and potato latkes with applesauce, which is a traditional Jewish dish served around Hanukkah.
In the morning, bagels, including carrot bagels, will be served.
There will also be entertainment throughout the day.
The headlining act is Flame, which is made up of 11 people with developmental and physical disabilities. The band has released three albums and was featured on the television show `Good Morning America.` The band has a song list of more than 100 songs they perform ` from classic rock, county and blues music.
Other entertainment includes Klezmer bands that feature youth members of the congregation, Israeli dancers, The Melody Makers and Uncle Joe’s Comb.
There are also activities for children, including crafts provided by Niskayuna Price Chopper’s Half-Pints, pony rides from 1-3 p.m., the Schenectady Museum, Reptile Adventure, Mad Science, a bouncy bounce, face painting by the 4-H group Wavy Dolphins, mini art classes provided by KidzArt and demonstrations by Drama Kids International.
`The children have a good time; the grown-ups have a good time,` said Rose Westheimer, the festival’s produce coordinator. `It is a wonderful way to spend a nice fall day.`
When the event was first being planned, the organizers didn’t realize the significance of it falling on 10/10/10. This lead to the theme being `Give, Give, Give,` because the Hebrew word pronounced `ten` translates into English as `give.`
There will be a `Giving Ten’t` in support of the theme, which will include representatives from nonprofit organizations that give back to the community. Some of the organizations included are Capital Region Friendship Circle, Jewish Family Services of Northeastern New York, Planned Parenthood, PRIDE Agenda, Schenectady County Board of Elections and the Sons of Italy Lodge 321.
Ellis Medicine is providing different types of health information including pre-screening checklists.
It isn’t uncommon for one of the festival workers to have worked every year since the festival started either.
`We have several people on the committee that have been on the committee for 32 years,` said Fink. `It is our synagogue’s biggest fundraiser for the year.`
The festival began as a fundraiser to help offset the cost of paving the synagogue’s parking lot, said Fink. Paul and Rose Westheimer owned The Carrot Barn at Schoharie Valley Farms and thought it would be a good idea to have a festival around their crop. Although the Westheimers no longer own the farm, they continue to be a part of the festival.
`It seems that since we started … it just seemed natural that we continue to be a part of it,` said Rose Westheimer. `There are so many people involved at the festival, it wouldn’t be possible to do it without the help of most of the congregation.`
Listed below is the entertainment schedule for the festival:
10:30 a.m. to 10:50 a.m. ` CAA Klezmer Kids
11 a.m. to noon ` Melody Makers
12:15 p.m. to 12:45 p.m. ` Temple Israel Klezmer
1 p.m. to 3 p.m. ` Flame
3:15 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. ` Israeli dancers
3:45 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. ` Uncle Joel’s Comb“
