How was the Woodchuck Festival?

By PATRICK McARDLE RUTLAND HERALD STAFF

WEST PAWLET – The Woodchuck Festival and Firemen’s Games at Mettawee Community School provided family fun and benefited the West Pawlet Volunteer Fire Department.

“It’s just a really great family day. There’s not much else going on in the winter so you can just bundle up, pull your boots on and come out to this big community event,” said Estelle Leach, who is helping to coordinate publicity for the festival.

Food meeting the woodchuck theme was served from the Woodchuck Café starting with breakfast at 9 a.m., including chuckburgers, prairie dogs, woodchuck beef stew, corn chowder and vegetarian vegetable soup.

Wagon rides with draft horses Molly and Chazy from the Lazy Horse Farm will be given all day.

Children will be able to show off their artistic skills by coloring a woodchuck picture by Egg. Local artist Adele Mitchell will teach kids how to make pins and magnets.

West Pawlet Volunteer Fire Department’s Ladies Auxiliary, which marks its 40th anniversary in 2009, is hosting a silent auction. Items donated for the auction include Vermont maple syrup, jewelry and furniture. Bidding is from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

The appropriately-named Woodchuck’s Revenge, whose members play folk songs, New England fiddle tunes, Irish ballads, bluegrass, among other styles, will play throughout the day.

At 11 a.m., it will be time to play cow plop bingo and at 1 p.m., the firefighters’ games will start.

The Woodchuck Rescue challenge allows four-member teams from volunteer fire departments to run a timed obstacle course.

Past winners include fire departments from Wells, Rupert, Granville (N.Y.) and Benson. Members of the Rupert department, who beat Dorset by 2 seconds in 2008, will be looking for their third first-place win.

Watching firefighters try to maneuver in the snow, which Leach said is “kinda difficult,” will be a highlight of the day, she said.

Leach said she thought one of the things that make the Woodchuck Festival fun for people was that it happened during the winter when many people are getting bored of being inside.

Some snow is forecast before Saturday but during the festival day, temperatures are expected to be in the upper 30s and Leach said it would go on regardless of weather conditions.

“It’s free, there’s no admission charge. You can come out and see all your neighbors and friends and maybe make some new friends,” Leach said.

The sixth annual Woodchuck Festival takes place at the Mettawee Community School on Route 153.

patrick.mcardle@rutlandherald.com