Spudtacular 

By TY BEAVER 

H&N Staff Reporter

October 17, 2010

H&N photos by Andrew Mariman  Yurok tribal member Frankie Myers tends to smoked salmon fed to hungry Potato Festivalgoers. Thirty fresh king salmon were smoked at the event.

     MERRILL—Ronda Peplinski says potatoes were a big part of Idaho when she lived there.

   “But they don’t have stuff like this,” the Ashland resident said, referring to Saturday’s Klamath Basin Potato Festival.

   Celebrating harvest

   Hundreds of people filled Merrill as the southern Klamath County community celebrated the end of the harvest season with food, music, parades and other activities. Steve Kandra, one of the event’s planners, said the event benefited from good weather, but the late harvest brought on by this year’s drought conditions probably kept turnout down.

   “There’s a lot of people who aren’t here today who are still digging potatoes and putting up hay,” he said.  

   The 73rd installment of the annual festival had a variety of attractions, from exhibits in the Merrill Civic Center to a free barbecue lunch and a parade to craft areas for children. Pop Warner football games went on behind the civic center for much of the afternoon.

   Kandra said the parade had 50 entries, an average number compared to prior years, but said many of those entries had multiple vehicles or parts, making the parade one of the longest in recent years.

   Floats varied widely, with some put together by students or other groups and a few were sponsored by local businesses such as Polar Bear and Floyd A. Boyd Co.     

   A number of floats voiced support for the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement, a document that aims to resolve conflicts over water in the region.

   Peplinski and her family, donning headbands made at the children’s craft area, said they’d never been to the Potato Festival before, but were impressed with its family-friendly atmosphere and the community’s involvement with agriculture.

   Gary and Joyce Cerotsky of Bonanza said they’ve regularly attended the festival since moving from Portland several years ago.

   “These little communities are so supportive of everyone, of each other,” Joyce Cerotsky said.

   Kandra said even though the agricultural community had its struggles this year that isn’t what matters as far as the festival was concerned.

   Many still choose this time of year to return to Merrill for reunions and visits because it’s a chance to celebrate.

   “We’re just letting people know we’re still here, we’re optimistic and working at it,” he said.