Marys River Grange’s Harvest Fest has a sweet new addition this year.
The grange’s pie auction, previously part of its Amazing Grange Day event, has moved to the annual fall festival, which runs from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday at Marys River Grange Hall. Organizer Susan Stogsdill said the switch simply made sense.
“Partly because pies are more of a harvest-y thing, so we thought that was a better match,” Stogsdill said. “Our main thing is the pie sale — that is a good moneymaker. And the majority of all of that goes back into the community.”
Grange members bake the pies and bidding is handled on paper. A sheet sits in front of each pie, and bidders write down their names and how much they’re willing to pay, with the top bid winning at the end of the event. Those who don’t want to wait can buy a pie outright for $50.
Last year’s Harvest Fest raised about $800, which went toward a kitchen upgrade at the grange’s historic building. Combined with grants, the project is now fully funded, with only finishing work remaining.
“Everything was covered,” Stogsdill said. “So yeah, we have a complete kitchen.”
With the kitchen paid for, this year’s proceeds will be split between ongoing building maintenance and holiday giving, including Philomath Community Services’ Holiday Cheer program.
About 10 vendors are signed up this year, down from roughly 20 last year.
“We’re giving them larger space so they’ve got a better flow for people and it doesn’t get clogged up,” Stogsdill said.
Along with artwork, jewelry, needlecraft and woodcraft, the lineup includes a couple of artists specializing in bookbinding and paper crafts. Mark Files will bring his Celtic brasswork and offer knife sharpening, and Ann Batten is expected with her handmade stepping stones, with sales benefiting other organizations.
The grange’s cider press will be running again. Members collected plenty of donated apples, and the cider committee picked up clean, sanitized jugs from Lochmead Dairy in Junction City for filling.
The raffle’s top prize is a custom pet portrait, and gift cards donated by local businesses will also be raffled off.
Live music won’t return this year after vendors said it made it difficult to talk with customers. Instead, Stogsdill is setting up a row of chairs in front of the stage and screening seasonal favorites such as “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown,” “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving,” “Mouse on the Mayflower” and “Hocus Pocus.”
“Kids who get bored can sit there and watch,” she said.
Stogsdill came up with the idea for Harvest Fest in 2018. She said she would have liked to see it grow more, noting that home Oregon State football games can cut into attendance, but the event remains a good kickoff to the holiday season.
From the start, her main goal was to bring people out to the grange.
“It was kind of a membership thing — come and learn about us, we’re not what you think,” Stogsdill said. “We have a very active crowd of people, a wide range of ages, which is nice, all different walks of life.”
Although the Grange was founded mainly to support farmers, which it still does, Stogsdill said the local chapter is now working to build more family-oriented activities, such as occasional free movie nights.
Marys River Grange Hall is located at 24707 Grange Hall Road in Philomath.
