2017 Rip Van Winkle Wine, Brew & Beverage Festival
On the banks of the Hudson River in
Catskill, New York Saturday, May 13, 2017.

Exactly 100 years before The Cabot co-op was founded,
Washington Irving wrote a story about Rip Van Winkle, published in 1819
The story goes that many years earlier..
Rip Van Winkle had to get away from his wifes constant nagging about his lazy attitude regarding her "Honey Dew List", so he headed to the hills to relax and join in with his new found buddies for some drinking and lawn bowling.
So after imbibing some of their strange liquor he passed out and woke up 20 years later, it was quite a nap and it caused quite a stir.

While he was gone lots of things changed, his beloved wife had passed
away, and in 1775 the shot heard round the world started our battle for Independence.
We defeated the British in 1783 resulting in the creation of our Wonderful Democratic Republic that we Lovingly Named

"The United States of America"

So after that we were not only making our own "Whey" in the world,
we were also making our own Beer, Wine & Cheese.

So moving onward and upward to the present day we are now making.

 "The Worlds Best Cheddar" 

&
 "The Worlds Best Beer" 

Not only that, we are making them both right here in the
"Green Mountain" State.

~0~
Having said all that the real reason we are here today is to promote our Farmers and our world class dairy products, which we have been doing
our "whey" since 1919
So lets get this show on the road.
~0~

Headed out from my Crib pretty early Saturday morning on my way to Catskill NY, and after about a 1/2 an hr I heard a loud crack as I was heading into East Montpelier, but I realized it was just the "Crack of Dawn" so I just kept on going.



Sky was blue but I was sure it would rain before to long, "red sky in morning" and when I got on down below Rutland near the base of Mt Tabor, it was starting to cloud over.

Still No Rain as I was heading into Bennington, then The Battle Monument peaked up and the thoughts of General Stark and the great dedication and courageous sacrifices he made for our country came into my head, so I thought, relax Jim this one is easy in comparison, so just relax and enjoy the ride.

So I headed on down through Albany and by then it was raining full bore when I arrived at the parking spot near the fishing access in Catskill.

After rounding up someone to let me in I went in and got ready, and like more often than not, I'm one of the first on the scene.

It did not not take me too long to get squared away though.

Bowls locked and loaded, Heifers standing guard, and I was ready to go,
so bring it on.



I kind of felt bad for the food vendors outside, they had a hard day I'm sure since it rained the whole day.

Many of the "Booze" Vendors I have become familiar with were there, like "Thousand Islands Winery" they backed in and ready to go to work getting set up.

Once things were about to start Lexi Gray stopped by & I had not seen her in a couple of years, she is a great performer and quite the character, and she LOVES Cabot Cheese.
She said stop over later Jim cause we're gonna blow the roof off this place..!!
AND they did.

Took a while for me to get a picture of the Rip Van Winkle Table while no one was blocking the view, since they were busy all day.

It was pretty busy for everyone inside all day so I guess the rain was a help, not a hindrance.

I had a line at my table all day as well so the time flew by.
Pretty hectic when you are passing out Beer and cheese side by side.

I did manage to get a video of Lexi performing along with her husband playing lead guitar.

Had a fun, busy and productive day.
Glad I was able to be a part of it.Jim.
Ovr'n out.