| The
Ohio Pawpaw Festival is a service mark of Chris Chmiel.
Since
1999, Chris Chmiel of Integration Acres Ltd. has been
working with great folks in his local community to help
educate and celebrate – the pawpaw! Here is a
brief history of the festival and an update for this
year’s event.
Starting
in 1999, Chris, along with members of the Albany Community
Development Corporation and the Albany Riding Club,
organized and sponsored this one-day event held October
10, 1999. It rained for most of the day, but the event
was still a success and a tradition was born. Highlights
included judges from Better Homes and Gardens, The Washington
Post and the Athens County Convention and Visitors Bureau.
In
2000 Chris again worked with a few members of the Albany
Riding Club to host this one-day event Saturday September
16, 2000. Highlights from this year’s event included
a grant from the Ohio Arts Council for heritage demonstrations.
Judges for the festival included Sue Dawson, food editor
for the Columbus Dispatch.
2001
The Ohio Pawpaw Festival moved to Lake Snowden and this
year the Ohio Pawpaw Growers Association (OPGA) became
the fiscal agent. This year’s event was a somber
but still successful event due to the terrorist attacks
on 9/11. We had sunny weather and people were able to
talk and heal. Highlights included being at Lake Snowden
on a beautiful day. Judges this year included Jenny
Pavlasek of Ohio Magazine
2002
This was the first two day Ohio Pawpaw Festival. Again
we were blessed with wonderful weather. Our judges this
year included John Marra, WSAZ News, Leslie Lilly, The
Foundation of Appalachia Ohio and Ted Lee, freelance
food writer for the New York Times, etc
2003
This year’s judges included Fred Dailey, Director
of the Ohio Department of Agriculture, Suzanne Martinson,
Food Writer from the Pittsburgh Post Gazette and Amy
Viny, food writer from the Cleveland area.
2004
This was the year that Hurricane Ivan dumped 5 inches
of rain the day before the festival. We had high water
stopping visitors from attending. This year’s
judges include Ohio State House Representative Jimmy
Stewart, sponsor of a bill to make the pawpaw the official
state fruit of Ohio. The Rarely Herd played on Sunday.
Green Energy Ohio has an energy tent at the festival.
2005
Pawpaw Green Man logo. Mary Lou Suzko food writer was
a judge.
2006:
Pawpaw Green Woman logo Snowville Creamery took the
lead role as organizer this year. They did an excellent
job of keeping the pawpaw party going. So much so that
14 kegs of pawpaw beer were drank in two days.
Saturday
and Sunday September 15 & 16, 2007 at Lake Snowden
in Albany, Ohio
9th Annual Ohio Pawpaw Festival
www.pawpawfest.com
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