fbpx
  • Subscribe & Support
  • Sign up for Free Newsletter
  • Print Edition
    • Get Home Delivery
    • Read ePaper Online
    • Newsstand Locations
  • HV1 Magazines
  • Contact
    • Advertise
    • Customer Support
    • Submit A News Tip
    • Where’s My Paper?
  • Manage HV1 Account
  • Free HV1 Trial
  • Holiday Gift Subscription
Hudson Valley One
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s Happening
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Featured Events
      • Art
      • Books
      • Kids
      • Lifestyle & Wellness
      • Food & Drink
      • Music
      • Nature
      • Stage & Screen
  • Opinions
    • Letters
    • Columns
    • Editorials
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Help Wanted
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Podcast
  • Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s Happening
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Featured Events
      • Art
      • Books
      • Kids
      • Lifestyle & Wellness
      • Food & Drink
      • Music
      • Nature
      • Stage & Screen
  • Opinions
    • Letters
    • Columns
    • Editorials
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Help Wanted
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Podcast
  • Log In
No Result
View All Result
Hudson Valley One
No Result
View All Result

Rosendale Recreation Center hosts 18th annual International Pickle Festival this Sunday

by Frances Marion Platt
February 15, 2017
in Community
0
A joyful Kathleen Perry did booming business at a recent Picklefest. (photo by Lauren Thomas)
A joyful Kathleen Perry did booming business at a recent Picklefest. (photo by Lauren Thomas)

Over the millennia of our existence prior to the invention of refrigeration, humankind has figured out many ingenious ways to make food last longer without spoiling. Even better, we developed appreciative tastes for quite a few products of these preservation methods — notably those that involve marination in some form of brine or vinegar. Cuisines all over the world have incorporated their own spins on pickling, and each November they are celebrated at the Rosendale Recreation Center in the form of the International Pickle Festival. The 18th annual Rosendale Picklefest is coming up this Sunday, November 22 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Everyone around these parts has heard by now how the event started as a Japanese cooking party organized by Bill and Cathy Brooks with a friend who had emigrated to Rosendale from Japan, and quickly took on a much larger life of its own. Tsukemono or Japanese pickles are still a feature of the Picklefest, but the scope of the event has broadened considerably to include every imaginable foodstuff that can conceivably be pickled — not to mention every imaginable thing that can be done to a pickle, such as deep-frying it on a skewer or robing it in chocolate.

There have been some changes at Picklefest this year, most significant among them the fact that Bill Brooks has begun to carry out his long-threatened retirement as impresario of the event. Primary sponsoring organization the Rosendale Chamber of Commerce now takes the lead role, though Chamber president Sarah McGinty downplays Brooks’s lowered profile. “Oh, we didn’t let him do that [retire],” says McGinty, “and don’t let him tell you otherwise. He’s still doing the fun stuff. He agreed to let us help with the drudge work.”

This year’s lineup of 85 vendors will also be a bit different from recent years. “We’ve tried to bring in more vendors who are making what they sell,” McGinty explains. “We wanted to use this opportunity to support local businesses, which is what the Chamber is all about. It will still very much have that Rosendale flavor — I guess that’s a briny flavor!”

More than 20 of those vendors will be offering a wide variety of pickled foods; “Just Good Eats is working up some picked ice creams for this one!” according to the Picklefest Facebook page. The other booths will be selling other food items such as desserts, cheeses, hot sauces, Ecuadorian and Jamaican dishes, plus a wide selection of non-edible handicrafts.

Live music is always an appealing feature of the Rosendale Pickle Festival. The program for 2015 begins, appropriately enough, with the New Orleans sounds of the Rosendale Improvement Association Brass Band & Social Club at 11 a.m. At noon you can hear the world music ensemble Levanta, which features Gabriel Dresdale on cello, Raphael Garritano on guitars, Evry Mann on percussion and Thomas Workman on flutes, tuba, didgeridoo, fujara and more. The Centrifugal Force Hoopers will provide a display of virtuoso hula-hooping at 1 p.m., followed by more music from the Gold Hope Duo at 2 p.m. and African drumming from Amadou Diallo at 3 p.m.

During the last hour of the Festival, music gives way to feats of silly, dilly skill as the Pickle Games get underway at 4 p.m., hosted by Doug Motel. The Pickle Triathlon starts with a Pickle-Eating Contest, where contestants try to eat the contents of an entire small jar of Mt. Olive Pickle Spears. The first one to finish wins the Gold, followed by Silver and Bronze. Next is the Pickle Juice-Drinking Contest, where contestants get to drink 24 ounces of pickle juice through a Big Bore Straw. The final event, the Pickle-Tossing Contest, is a team effort in which a pitcher tosses a pickle chip to the catcher, who catches the chip in his or her mouth, then spurts it into the Counter’s Jar.

In the spirit of a country fair, there is also a Home Pickling Contest. Entrants must submit two jars of whatever they have pickled, labeled with their name, address, phone number, e-mail address and identification of the contents. Entries must be submitted by 11 a.m.; judging begins at noon.

The other aspect that’s notably different this year is the price of entry: “It’s the first increase in price since we started 18 years ago,” McGinty notes. Whereas admission used to cost $3 per person, $5 per family, it has now gone up to $5 per adult, free for kids under age 16 — still quite reasonable, and all the money raised after expenses goes to support local charities, not-for-profit organizations and municipal projects like replacement of the Rosendale Pool.

Between six and seven thousand people visit the Pickle Festival in an average year, and many are veterans: “This will be our third year attending and driving two hours to do so! Great day of family fun or a goofy couples’ getaway,” reads one enthusiastic review of the event on the Facebook page. But if you’re reading this, you probably won’t need to drive quite so far to enjoy some sweet sour fun. The Rosendale Recreation Center is located at 1055 Route 32. For more info, visit https://rosendalechamber.org/pickle-festival or www.facebook.com/rosendalepicklefestival.

Join the family! Grab a free month of HV1 from the folks who have brought you substantive local news since 1972. We made it 50 years thanks to support from readers like you. Help us keep real journalism alive.
- Geddy Sveikauskas, Publisher
Previous Post

Heritage Alliance sues over Belleayre Resort proposal

Next Post

Averill nets basketball scholarship

Frances Marion Platt

Frances Marion Platt has been a feature writer (and copyeditor) for Ulster Publishing since 1994, under both her own name and the nom de plume Zhemyna Jurate. Her reporting beats include Gardiner and Rosendale, the arts and a bit of local history. In 2011 she took up Syd M’s mantle as film reviewer for Alm@nac Weekly, and she hopes to return to doing more of that as HV1 recovers from the shock of COVID-19. A Queens native, Platt moved to New Paltz in 1971 to earn a BA in English and minor in Linguistics at SUNY. Her first writing/editing gig was with the Ulster County Artist magazine. In the 1980s she was assistant editor of The Independent Film and Video Monthly for five years, attended Heartwood Owner/Builder School, designed and built a timberframe house in Gardiner. Her son Evan Pallor was born in 1995. Alternating with her journalism career, she spent many years doing development work – mainly grantwriting – for a variety of not-for-profit organizations, including six years at Scenic Hudson. She currently lives in Kingston.

Related Posts

YMCA bike repair training class returns to Kingston
Community

YMCA bike repair training class returns to Kingston

February 6, 2023
The equinox and the Harvest Moon
Community

Saugerties Snow Moon parade postponed until Sunday due to weather

February 4, 2023
Visit Kingston’s 12,240-square-foot squat, centrally located with wood-burning fireplace
Community

Visit Kingston’s 12,240-square-foot squat, centrally located with wood-burning fireplace

February 3, 2023
Saugerties to host inaugural Snow Moon Festival February 3 to 5
Community

Saugerties to host inaugural Snow Moon Festival February 3 to 5

February 2, 2023
Not-So-Sweet Fundraiser returns to Saugerties Animal Shelter
Community

Not-So-Sweet Fundraiser returns to Saugerties Animal Shelter

February 1, 2023
Neighbors protest Ulster County Veterans’ Cemetery flagpole spotlights
Community

Neighbors protest Ulster County Veterans’ Cemetery flagpole spotlights

February 1, 2023
Next Post

Averill nets basketball scholarship

Trending News

  • One-man crime spree comes to end after Kingston man runs out of luck 3.7k views
  • Saugerties to host inaugural Snow Moon Festival February 3 to 5 2k views
  • Visit Kingston’s 12,240-square-foot squat, centrally located with wood-burning fireplace 1.8k views
  • The Bruynswyck Inn Oyster & Clam Bar offers fresh seafood and Shawangunk views 1.7k views
  • 20-foot, 10-wheel big rig overturns in Saugerties, injuring driver 1.2k views
  • Neighbors protest Ulster County Veterans’ Cemetery flagpole spotlights 754 views

Weather

Kingston
◉
43°
Cloudy
7:02 am5:17 pm EST
Feels like: 36°F
Wind: 13mph N
Humidity: 60%
Pressure: 30.06"Hg
UV index: 0
TueWedThu
41/32°F
48/27°F
39/36°F
Weather forecast Kingston, New York ▸

Subscribe

Independent. Local. Substantive. Subscribe now.

  • Subscribe & Support
  • Sign up for Free Newsletter
  • Print Edition
  • HV1 Magazines
  • Contact
  • Manage HV1 Account
  • Free HV1 Trial
  • Holiday Gift Subscription

© 2022 Ulster Publishing

No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s Happening
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Featured Events
      • Art
      • Books
      • Kids
      • Lifestyle & Wellness
      • Food & Drink
      • Music
      • Nature
      • Stage & Screen
  • Opinions
    • Letters
    • Columns
    • Editorials
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Help Wanted
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Podcast
  • Subscribe & Support
  • Contact Us
    • Customer Support
    • Advertise
    • Submit A News Tip
  • Print Edition
    • Read ePaper Online
    • Newsstand Locations
    • Where’s My Paper
  • HV1 Magazines
  • Manage HV1 Account
  • Log In
  • Free HV1 Trial

© 2022 Ulster Publishing