Category Archives: Native Wines

Rhubarb Festival Celebrates Region, Creativity

DATE 05/08/2007 7:15 AM
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

This is part of an occasional series by the Sanpete Country Travel and Utah Heritage Highway 89 Alliance on the people and places along U.S. Highway 89.

Rhubarb Festival Celebrates Region, Creativity

Rhubarb Festival Celebrates Region, CreativitySanpete County is already well known for its beautiful scenery, wonderful pioneer heritage and historical cities and towns. Now it’s also becoming known as a place with some pretty creative uses for rhubarb, thanks to the annual Sanpitch Rhubarb Festival.

The creative festival, started eight years ago by Winnie Wood and Bob Sorenson, pays homage to the rhubarb and its many uses. Wood and Sorenson, who make wines from fruits and plants from their Mt. Pleasant-based company, Native Wines, use rhubarb in some of their products and thought having a festival in honor of the common garden plant would be fun and a way to build community relations and attract people into the area.

The event was a hit, and now is an annual thematic attraction featuring pie-eating contests, wine-and-cheese tasting, a goat dress up and turkey trot, an ugly truck contest, soap box derby and even crowning someone “Queen of the Rhubarb.” Not to mention all of the foods made from rhubarb. Wood says that the ideas that people having been coming up with have grown over the years. There now is rhubarb ice cream, soda pop, syrup, and even salsa!

This year’s event will be Saturday, May 19 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Festivities are held at Native Wines, 72 S. 500 West and at Peel Furniture Works, 565 W. Main Street, in Mt. Pleasant.

The celebration begins with the Ugly Truck Contest and Parade at noon. Ugly trucks from all over the region enter the parade, which runs down Mt. Pleasant’s Main Street.

The parade will also include “The Rhubarb Royalty” float. The royalty preside over festival events such as the pie eating and raw rhubarb eating contests.

Native Wines will be open for wine and cheese tasting from noon to 6 p.m. At 3 p.m., judging for the “World’s Best Rhubarb Pie” begins and at 4 p.m. the Rhubarbarian Raw Rhubarb Eating Contest. An awards ceremony for all the day’s contests will be held at 5 p.m. in front of Native Wines.

Peel Furniture Works, which crafts heirloom quality replicas of early Utah pioneer furniture, came on board in recent years as a sponsor, and has added its own special twist to the celebration.

The Peel Furniture Works Rhubarb Extravaganza will include heritage craft demonstrations, contests, and live musical performances from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The furniture company will also be the host for the pie-eating contest and “turkey trot” and “goat dress up” contests during the Rhubarb Festival, as well as the barbeque turkey sandwich luncheon.

In addition to running Native Wines and creating the festival and other unique events, Wood also runs the drama department at Mt. Pleasant’s Wasatch Academy, teaching students the craft and directing productions.

It is a natural fit for Wood, who is a performance artist and award-winning actor, performance artist, producer, choreographer and director. She has been active in Utah’s theater community for years, founding the Dance Theater Coalition 27 years ago, which continues to produce emerging, independent artists.

For more information on the Sanpitch Rhubarb Festival, call Wood at Native Wines, (435) 462-9261, or Dale Peel at (435) 462-2887.

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For more information Contact:

Monte Bona
Sanpete County Travel and Heritage Council
(435) 462-2502

‘Honest Apple’ Day Oct. 21 Event Celebrates Heritage Fruit, Includes Contests, Fun

DATE 09/25/2006 7:15 AM
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

This is part of an occasional series by the Sanpete Country Travel and Utah Heritage Highway 89 Alliance on the people and places along U.S. Highway 89.

‘Honest Apple’ Day Oct. 21
Event celebrates heritage fruit, includes contests, fun

Sanpete County’s Native Wines will once again pay homage to one of its favorite ingredients during the 7th annual Honest Apple day Saturday, Oct. 21.

Numerous kinds of heirloom apples will be available for sampling, along with homemade apple pies, apple cider, apple butter and apple wine. There will also be a witch contest, poetry, musical performances, wine and cheese testing’s, an apple pie contest and more.

The fall event has become an annual tradition of Native Wines, a Mt. Pleasant company owned by Bob Sorenson and Winnie Wood. Located in a historic building at 72 South 500 West near downtown Mt. Pleasant, Native Wines is renowned for making unfiltered wine. Sorenson and Wood use fruits that are picked from wild trees and shrubs in the mountains and valleys of central Utah in their products, including apples.

Honest Apple Days runs from noon to 6 p.m at Native Wines. The festivities get underway with the symbolic “splitting of the apple” at 12 p.m by Jeffrey Berke, the event’s “highly distinguished poet laureate.” Mark Cantor will be master of ceremonies for the day.

There will be an “Ugliest Witch in the West” contest, with cash prizes being awarded for both children and adults. People may sign up for the contest at Country Squire, 74 W. Main Street in Mt. Pleasant.

The “World’s Best Apple Pie” contest will be held in the afternoon, with more than $200 in cash prizes to be awarded. Pies must be entered by 3 p.m. for judging. Other Honest Apple events include the “Crowning of the New Princess Pomona” and Live Irish Folk Music featuring “Last Night’s Fun.”

Apple goods of all kinds will be available for sampling and purchase throughout the day, and the owners of the local restaurant, Loose Caboose, will also be on hand selling refreshments. Some of the varieties of apples that will be available that day include Fameuse, Pinora, Samsou, Wolf River, Cinnamon Spice, Cameo, Goldrush, Goldblush, Hawaii, Winesap Wagner, and Ozark Gold.

For more information on Honest Apple Day, phone Native Wines at (435) 462-9261. Information is also available online at http://www.nativewines.net

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For more information Contact:

Monte Bona
Sanpete County Travel and Heritage Council
(435) 462-2502

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