Downtown Cary Farmers' Market Fall Festival

    We had an amazing time at the Downtown Cary Farmers' Market Fall Festival on Saturday (24th). What a beautiful day from morning to afternoon; it was a distinctly early fall morning in North Carolina if I ever felt one! I could give a detailed play-by-play of the 8 am set-up scramble or the truckloads of bottled water we ferried from the parking lot to our tent, but I think what will stick with me the most is having the opportunity to give parents and kids from all over Cary a taste of the enthusiasm emblematic of our school community. 
    So much about this event was delightfully unexpected for us. The Bookstop station was a huge hit: the Bookstop program Chair, Karen Thomson, hooked us up with boxes of books to give away for free, and a shelf to make a tantalizing reading corner area. When we told kids they could take the book they had been reading for 20 minutes, multiple jaws hit the sidewalk, and they looked at us like we were giving them free pizza for a year. Later in the afternoon, we had the pleasure of catching up with Margot Bennett, the founder of the Bookstop program, and her very friendly service dog. Margot has published 2 books since last year: Brisco, Life as a Therapy Dog and Ely, Life as a Service Dog Puppy, both available on Amazon.
    Another incredible first came when we got to hang out with Paws, the Cary Elementary Cougar. She was in and out all day, but clearly had a blast meeting every single child at the festival, as well as many older kids, adults, and dogs. Paws is certainly a beloved member of the downtown Cary community. She even got to meet Mrs. Clause, who was at the festival reading to kids and making balloon animals from scratch. The only thing we were sad to see Paws miss was the festival Pie-Eating contest. We're positive Paws would have licked Chatham Street clean with 'em. 
   No matter how you frame it, you can't outdo the thoughtfulness and energy that the Farmers' Market team put into this event. If we weren't ready for fall before, we are 100% in apple-picking mode now.
     There are a lot more people to thank:

• Alecia Stephenson, Cary Elementary Parent and owner of Sweet Fare, donated several boxes of assorted fresh cookies. These delicious treats turned a lot of heads. We recommend going to check out Sweet Fare (between Ollie's and Notasium) as soon as you get a chance. www.sweetfareshop.com
• Multiple downtown Cary businesses donated raffle prizes worth over $750! These included: Triangle E-Sports, Scratch, Taco Addicts, Riccobene Dentistry, Chocolate Smiles, and many many more. We are humbled by this unexpected level of support.
• Cary Elementary teacher Sarah Ralph brought plants for sale that were potted by her 2nd grade class. They were a huge hit!
• Thanks to all families and friends of the Cary PTA who donated supplies, raffle prizes, and WATER. Through your generosity, we gathered 650 bottles of water for sale to the more than 5,000 attendees!
• And sincere thanks to all of the CES Parents, Committee Chairs, and Board Members for helping make this event an even more inarguable success.

We can't wait till next year.