Heck of a (Community) Party!

In case you missed it...on Friday Jan 23rd there was a great party going on at Stonewall Farms in Keene NH, put together by our own (Monadnock Sustainability Network members), Amanda Costello, Bonnie Hudspeth and Jen Risley. In a beautiful post and beam building with a huge stone fireplace (as well as beer, wine and dancing!) warming the participants, a huge group of farmers and people dedicated to the Local Food scene gathered to share a meal and winter cheer with each other. It was an amazing, joyful experience of community. Community coming together in appreciation of each other's role in growing and consuming food grown close to home. The room was filled to overflow with kids, elders, farmers, market gardeners, consumers, cooks, and musicians. A long buffet table with delicious foods took up a whole side of the room, with a line of adults stretching around the corner and red cheeked kids darting in and out to snatch another favorite. There was a constant throng milling around the back table where the owner of Candia Vineyards was pouring their award winning wine and Elm City Brewery beer was consumed by the glass full. One young farmer brought his own brew of hard apple and blackberry cider. It's hard not to like a crowd that thinks work boots and wool vests are high fashion. After the storytelling about singing rattlesnakes and non-singing chickens it was time to move the tables aside and prepare for some contra dancing, THE dance of choice for farmers and rural folks for many generations. This style of dance was almost lost for a while, but has made a big comeback in the underused grange buildings of today. It's simple enough for the young and old alike and excellent fun for a crowd. An alemande here, a do-si-do there and all inthe middle with a whoop and a holler! As I watched the dancers smiling in each other's eyes and rounding the floor I couldn't imagine a better world. Thank you Amanda, Jen, and Bonnie for creating such a fun way to bring folks together. You gals sure know how to party!