Suzanne Stewart
Staff Writer
A day of tradition, history and fun, Green Bank Elementary-Middle School’s Harvest Day broadens the education of its students each year.
Foregoing the typical Halloween parties, Harvest Day features area crafters, historians and farmers giving presentations which included candy making, forestry, rope making and a petting zoo.
The school began the celebration in the 90s and six years ago, fourth grade teacher Marsha Beverage took the reins as organizer.
“I have several goals,” Beverage said. “One would be to bring the community and the school together. One would be for the students to have a good time and learn about activities that they may not normally be involved in. Part of it is carrying on tradition. It’s a really good thing.”
Beverage focuses on finding presenters from the community instead of paying presenters to come in from out-of-county or state because she wants the students to know their community and the people in it.
“We have a lot of talent right here in our own community, and so I try to find local people who are willing to come in instead of just bringing people in who are from elsewhere,” she said. “If the students are really interested in something, then they can follow-up. I’ve had kids follow-up with presenters or their parents have gotten in contact with them and said, ‘I’m really interested in that, can you tell me more about it.’ Those are kind of fun things. It’s all about the kids.”
This year’s events included: wildlife and wildlife laws, backyard birds, forest service, quilting, candy apple making, newspaper typesetting, gardening and marking, clay cups, a hayride, rope making, storytelling, canning and preserving apples, logging and forestry, face painting, apple cider, a pumpkin patch and a petting zoo.
The big wind-up of the day featured Roy Moose and his live snake show.
