COBB— Despite high heat and a bit of smoke from regional wildfires, the 5th annual Blackberry Cobbler Festival at Belmont Pines was well attended Saturday. The annual festival offers locals local music, food and artisans and the popular cobbler contest.
Presented by the Cobb Area Council, the festival saw its largest attendance yet with 133 vendor booths filled with all things blackberry. There were blackberry bacon jam smash burgers from the Saw Shop Public House, blackberry Agua Fresca from Los 3Koras, and sweet blackberry chicken wings from Flippin’ Birds. So many sweets abounded, with a fluffy blackberry shaved ice cream from Ohana Shaves and an array of delectable blackberry deserts from The Henny Penny Catering Company which included cheesecake, forest cake, and tiramisu – all blackberry infused. Not to mention the never ending supply of blackberry cobbler baked by the Mountain Lions Club and other local bakers.
Every year the Blackberry Cobbler Festival hosts a cobbler contest, where local judges award one resident baker with a blue ribbon for best overall cobbler. After receiving and judging 11 entries this year, the awards and varied gift cards were given to Rose Harper for third place receiving a $50 gift card for Hardester’s Markets. Second place and a $100 gift card to Hardester’s Market were awarded to Corina Deterra, and the first place award along with $150 to Hardester’s Markets was Denise Brodovich.
Of course there was much gratitude expressed to Ganesha Gardens, Valley Long Farms, Living Being Farms, Goddess of the Mountain, The Bread Box, and Edenberry Farm for their generous donations. Thanks to these local farms for supplying fresh fruits and vegetables there were endless amounts of blackberries providing the foundation for a proper celebration of the fruit’s peak season.
Cobb Elementary School Parent Teacher Organization President Shantel Derum and Vice President Kristen Zalusky shared their experience organizing the Kids Zone for the event which was larger this year as they expanded the bounce house obstacle course and offered more free activities like the build it course with giant foam pieces. Derum’s daughter Asha shared “My favorite part was the jumpy house.”
Offering face painting, cotton candy, drinks and carnival style games, the PTO was hoping to make more than $2,000 dollars to put towards field trips, class parties, their garden program, and hopefully a brand-new STEM room, Zalusky shared. Derum said, “We’re just trying to make it all a real fun time for the kids.” Zalusky added, “It’s fun to meet the parents and give back to the community.” The PTO helps to provide fundraising and other services for the 100 plus student population. Zalusky said, “We do this so our kids have a more enriched education.” The pair expressed their reliance on the community, thanking their sponsors though they are always looking for more donations as Zalusky stated, “This is one of the gems of a small community, everyone is helping out!”
Plenty of other community organizations were present with their booths, including the Middletown Art Center which provides arts and crafts every year sharing the motto “Art is for everyone.” This year the focus was on a Shoreline Stewardship program and making hitch fish out of locally harvested tule leaves. Lisa Kaplan, Executive Director of the Middletown Art Center said, “This is to show the importance of the tule and the hitch in local aquatic ecosystems and how we can care for Clear Lake.” The center was also offering post card print making as part of a contest that invited the public to design a post card that best represents the natural life of Clear Lake.
Cathy McCarthy from the Cobb Area Council thanked the Shannon Family of Wines for their sponsorship and supply of blackberry lemonade hard cider as well as Lake County Welding Supply, and a long list of other sponsors. She also thanked all of the many volunteers that come together to organize and execute the event.
