Farmer Consumer Awareness Day to be held on Saturday

QUINCY - The annual Quincy Farmer Consumer Awareness Day will be held tomorrow, Saturday, Sept. 8, starting at 7 a.m. and ending around 5 p.m.

The day will be filled with organized activities. It will begin with the Lions Club Kickoff Breakfast at the Quincy High School cafeteria from 7-10 a.m.

Held in conjunction with FCAD are events at White Heron Cellars, west of Quincy and Twin Firs Turf Farm southeast of Quincy.

White Heron Cellars will have a Chef Extravaganza, which is a TV-like chef challenge. It will be held tonight, Friday, Sept. 7, at 6 p.m.

Twin Firs will have a balloon festival on Friday and Saturday, with most of the activity, including fireworks, Saturday night. There will be night glows and balloon launches.

For times on balloon festival activities, you may visit partiesonthegreen.com.

Also kicking off at 7 a.m. at the FCAD will be the Farm-to-Market fun runs. There will be one of two kilometers and one of five kilometers.

The Farmer-Consumer Awareness Day (FCAD) was started in 1981 by Dennis Higashiyama. It was a way to bring farmers and consumers back into communication.

Higashiyama had heard a Paul Harvey story that illustrated how farmers and consumers had drifted apart, leaving many people with little or no understanding of how food arrives on their grocery store shelves.

FCAD is an opportunity for farmers to show off the fruits of their labors and demonstrate the tools and techniques they use in their work. FCAD has grown successfully, with tours of area processing plants and farms, displays of farm equipment, informational and commodity booths, and a farmer's market.

The celebration has expanded over the years to include a Grand Parade, the Farm to Market Fun Run, live entertainment, cook-offs, arts and crafts, a car show and booths that showcase locally grown delicacies.

The parade, through downtown Quincy, will begin at 10 a.m. There will be a tractor pull at noon. Tours will begin at 11 a.m.

For a complete list of tours, events and times, you may visit www.quincyfarmerconsumer.com