Connecting farm to consumer focus of Quincy celebration

QUINCY — After 45 years, the purpose of Quincy’s annual celebration remains what it’s been from the beginning.  

“The whole point is to connect the farmer with the consumer,” said Leia Watkins, chair of the Farmer-Consumer Awareness Day committee. It’s scheduled for Sept. 12. 

Farmer-Consumer Awareness Day was founded to help people who aren’t farmers get a better understanding of agriculture, and where and how the food they buy is produced. Information is more readily available now, but many people still don’t understand, she said, and along with all the accurate information out there, there’s plenty of disinformation.   

“We’re doing our best to combat it,” Watkins said. 

The day starts with one of the big events – the FCAD parade rolls, walks and rides down Central Avenue south at 10 a.m. Two awards are presented by the organizers and traditionally the Farmer of the Year and the Honorary Farmer lead the parade. 

For 2026, the owners of DeHoog Dairy are the Farmers of the Year and will be at the head of the parade. Yesenia James, a longtime FCAD volunteer who passed away in February, will be remembered with the Honorary Farmer award. 

The parade features everything from Quincy’s four elementary schools to community organizations, cool cars, fun tractors and farm machinery that fills the street. The parade ends at Quincy Middle School, where most of the afternoon’s events are scheduled. 

Traditionally, information booths and vendors set up in the QMS gym and traditionally spill out onto the playfields behind the school. Some booths are sponsored by local organizations and government entities, and for 2026 include the Quincy-Columbia Basin Irrigation District and the Bureau of Reclamation. 

There is one exception when it comes to vendor and information booths. 

“The produce sale, as always, will be going on,” Watkins said.  

The Quincy FFA Alumni produce sale always sets up in the QMS parking lot. It features fruits and vegetables grown on farms in the Quincy area. Proceeds from the sale go to Quincy FFA chapter activities. 

One longtime event, the bus tours of Quincy-area farms, has been canceled, Watkins said, due to a lack of volunteers. But another longtime event is returning. 

“The tractor pull is happening. We are very excited to have it back,” Watkins said. 

The tractor pull is pretty self-explanatory – tractors pull a weighted sled down the course, with the weight getting heavier and heavier as it goes.   

The Quincy Rotary chapter will be serving a fundraising lunch in the QMS cafeteria beginning at noon. Like the produce sale, the menu features food produced in the Quincy area, from the barbecued beef to the corn to the fresh apples.  

Cool cars and other vehicles will start parking on the QMS playfield at 9 a.m. for the annual Quincy Chamber of Commerce car show. Participants have the option to ride in the FCAD parade, and a lot of cool car owners do. Chamber Director Catalina Blancas said entry into the parade does not give automatic entry to the car show – the car show requires its own registration.  

Contests are part of the car show in addition to awards. There’s a doughnut-eating contest, Blancas said, and car owners will get the chance to show what their sound systems can do in the audio contest.  

The annual quilt show will be in the QMS gym, with attendees getting a chance to vote for their favorites. Quilters are eligible for awards in 10 categories, with a separate category for youth. 

Putting on FCAD is a big job, and Watkins said it’s more difficult due to the lack of volunteers. Watkins said to contact FCAD through Facebook to register as a volunteer for the event.  

“We really need more volunteers to come in and help out,” she said. 

    Fire hats from Grant County Fire District 3 and balloons were part of the take home for children at FCAD 2025 in Quincy. Farmer-Consumer Awareness Day 2026 is Sept. 12.
  

    Quincy FFA students run the cash register at the 2025 Farmer-Consumer Awareness Day produce sale.
  

    There was candy for the taking at the 2025 FCAD parade, and there were plenty of children to scoop it up.
  

    Farmer-Consumer Awareness Day participants wave to the crowd during the 2025 parade.