Farm Town Renaissance

If you missed The Heavy Table “A Fowl Affair” post on Tuesday, there is going to be a big farm-style celebration of all things poultry on Sunday, September 13, 2–7pm at the Callister Farm in West Concord, MN.

I was excited about the celebration for a couple reasons: First, since I joined Slow Food Minnesota a couple weeks ago, I’ll get to save $10 by taking advantage of the discounted ticket price for Slow Food members (sweet!);  Secondly, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about the fact that locavores from across  the Twin Cities will be descending on my little hometown, affectionally dubbed “West Corncob” by locals, come September.

Really, it’s tripping me out! All my life, the natural order of things has been that small town kids load onto buses & drive up (or down) to “the Cities” to take in the sights and culture. You know what I’m talking about, you’ve seen the buses from Virginia, Henning, or Kasson-Mantorville lined up in front of the Capitol, Mill City and Science Museums. How exciting for us former small town kids living in the Twin Cities (there are a LOT of us now), that the times have changed and exciting things are happening out in the country that bring busloads of people!

Are farm dinner celebrations like this a sign of a small town renaissance? I don’t know, but I hope so! Will it be a fun-filled day? Absolutely! Plus you’ll get a delicious chicken dinner out of it, so it’s really a win-win no matter how you look at it. Get your tickets at the Callister’s stand at the St. Paul Farmer’s Market. Tell them that Chad Gillard sent you. They’ll look at you funny and ask, “which Gillard is he?” Tell them my dad is Ed, and grandpa is Charlie, then they’ll know who I am. Strange, but that’s how we roll in Corncob.

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