A cowboy riding a dinosaur instead of a horse waited patiently for a tri-tip sandwich in the food line, the Big Bad Wolf settled in at a table to crunch on some nachos and a spaceman made the rounds, checking out the games offered and prizes available.
The unusual cast of characters could be found on Saturday night, Oct. 28 in Valley Home – under a full moon, no less – as the small community gathered for a Halloween-themed Harvest Fest, put on at the Valley Home School.
Several fire department, sheriff’s department and CHP vehicles and personnel stopped by, offering tours of the vehicles, providing some free giveaway items for kids and taking time to visit with residents. Inside the school’s multi-purpose room, there were silent auction items, many of the offerings put together by classes at the school and others donated by community members or local businesses.
There was music, a costume parade for the kids, pumpkin decorating, face painting, dummy roping and a petting zoo provided by Sierra 4-H members. For those brave enough, you could hop on to the hay bales set up on a trailer and get towed by the tractor through a spooky haunted hay ride, the route rolling through the orchards and featuring plenty of scary surprises along the way.
Generally, said organizers, it is just a fun festival for all to enjoy, while also saluting the ‘harvest’ time of year. This year’s Harvest Fest coincided with the bright full moon, setting up the perfect back drop for the Saturday evening festivities. Hours were 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. so attendees could purchase their dinner there – full meals or a la carte items – or just snack on the carnival staples of popcorn, cotton candy and sno cones.
Several different animals were available to youngsters to mingle with at the petting zoo and the small carnival-type games provided the opportunity to win some tickets and turn them in for prizes.
There were also prizes for those winning the Bingo games during the evening and a pumpkin patch was offered for kids so they could pick up a pumpkin to take home and decorate.
Organizers said it was a large crowd that turned out to enjoy the festivities, helping usher in the harvest season.
