FRUITDALE—A desire to shine a spotlight on a small town often overlooked was just one of the reasons that brought the Fruitdale Fall Festival to life on the afternoon of October 18.
Zach and Lacy Peterson, owners of Peterson 601 Homestead, had a wish to bring some of their products to market, as well as offer that same opportunity to other small producers in the area, a goal that gave rise to this new adventure. “Just bringing realization that Fruitdale is here! We are restoring the old building—Community Hall is getting restored—so we figured we would use it too, and just bring more people to the area,” said Zach.
This is the first-ever Fruitdale Fall Festival for the duo. “My wife had some people come up to her—there are a lot of local producers in the area—and encourage her to do this,” Zach shared. “The fall harvest is wrapping up as well and having a warm fall harvest festival, getting a lot of people together before the wintertime comes—that’s mainly the goal of it!”
The area around the historic Fruitdale Hall was lined with vendors. Live classic acoustic rock music by Bittersweet played, and shops were set up inside the Hall as well. There was everything from pumpkins and gourds, honey, fresh-baked bread, pies, cookies, and eggs to lamb and so much more. Most anything you would hope to find at a fall harvest market, you could find at this one.
The event was harkening back to the area’s roots, to a time when the region was big in sugar beet and pickle production and the trains shipped beef and sheep from the area. “Agriculture is pretty important to the area, and we like to keep doing that too, we have that homestead mentality—fresh baked goods, fresh milk and eggs and lamb meat too—everything to be able to provide for yourself, we’re huge about that,” shared Zach.
For the kids, various vendors and community groups set up Trunk-or-Treat stations for anyone who wanted to get a head start on Halloween festivities. Kids were encouraged to come in costume and have some fun. Nisland, Arpan Fire and Rescue, Western Skies 4-H Club, American Legion, and the Meade-Sturgis Unit 33 American Legion Auxiliary and Newell FFA set up specifically to provide games and treats to the area children.
The event was scheduled to go from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m., and plans were in place for what to do as the night went on and the weather got a little cooler. “I think the turnout is going pretty well so far. A lot of our trunk-or-treaters will be out of here probably about dark, but we’ll still be going,” explained Zach. “We brought some lights, so we’ll have the area lit up! The inside is all heated and it has lights as well. The food truck’s gonna stay here until 9 p.m. too, and our musicians will stay as long as there are people and the traffic keeps going!”
Vendors that participated in the Fall Festival include: Rollin’ in the Hills, The Wurst and More Food Truck, 5W Farm & Ranch, Morgan Krul & Vicki Hielscher, Hockenbary Photos, Cowgirl Creations, Mulberry Market, Mary Kay Makeup by Tonya Onstott, Tumblers & T-Shirt Bar by Lorri Olson, Wild Lightning Boutique, Bigfoot Sauces, Dawn Newland, Ruby Gabriel, The Belle Jar, R.G. Bees LLC, and Prairie Peddler.
Read the full issue of the Belle Fourche Beacon by clicking here.
