Tag Archives: Sanpete Rhubarb Festival

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

Rhubarb Festival Celebrates 7th Anniversary

DATE 05/05/2006 2:15 PM
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 7th Anniversary

Seven years ago, Winnie Wood and Bob Sorenson dreamed up the idea of hosting a thematic celebration that would bring people to Native Wines, the winery they started in the small town of Mt. Pleasant, and to other attractions in Sanpete County.

The chosen theme? The ubiquitous rhubarb.

OK, so the common garden plant is used in making all kinds of food products ranging from pies and bread to jams, jellies and ice cream sauce. Bob and Winnie, who make wines from native fruits and plants, also use rhubarb in some of their products. But does that warrant holding an annual celebration to honor the rhubarb plant?

Winnie and Bob thought so. They even came up with some funky events for the special day: a rhubarb pie-eating contest, unique foods made from rhubarb, wine-and-cheese tasting, an ugly truck contest, and even crowning someone “the rhubarb queen.”

Thus, the Sanpete Rhubarb Festival was born. Now in its seventh year, it’s a smashing success, attracting people from all over the state to Mt. Pleasant City and Sanpete County.

The local Mt. Pleasant company 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 celebrations. In addition, for the past few years the festival has also included a soap box derby, one of the few remaining in the state, to help bring the once-popular races back to the streets of Mt. Pleasant.

This year’s Sanpete Rhubarb Festival is set for May 13 from noon to 6 p.m. at Native Wines, 72 S. 500 West, and at Peel Furniture Works, 565 W. Main Street. It will include a lot of interesting things to eat and drink made from the plant, including ice cream, soda pop, salsa, syrup, pies and pickles, as well as musical performances, vendors, sidewalk sales and more.

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 only stipulation is that the truck must run.

The parade will also include “The Rhubarb Royalty” float. The Royalty include a “Queen of Rhubarb,” a “Defender of the Rhubarb” and “The Rhubarb Maiden.” The royalty also preside over events such as the pie eating and raw rhubarb eating contests.

There will be live music following the parade, including “old-time cowboy music” at Peel Furniture Works, as well as heritage craft demonstrations, food, contests and more until 5 p.m.

Native Wines will also be releasing the rhubarb wine made in 2004 and will be open for wine and cheese tasting from noon to 9 p.m. At 3 p.m., judging for the “best rhubarb pie in the world” begins and at 4 p.m. a raw rhubarb eating contest. An awards ceremony for all the day’s contests will be held at 5 p.m.

The soap box derby will begin after the noon parade, hosted by local resident John McClellan and Mt. Pleasant City. Soap Box Derby races used to be a popular event in Sanpete County, with a lot of local residents taking part as children. Nationally, races have grown in sophistication over the years, but Sanpete County’s races remain true to the original “anything goes” soap box derby philosophy. Cars can be made of any material, including plastic, wood, metal. They should be about six to seven feet long and about three feet wide. Drivers should range in age from about eight to 16 years. For additional information on the derby, contact McClellan at (435) 462-3808 or Mt. Pleasant City at (435) 462-2456.

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

# # #

For more information Contact:

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

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