SEQUIM — Local hens, bakers and fiddlers dished up a meal for the largest-ever crowd at Friends of the Fields’ third annual Farmer Breakfast, Friends founder Bob Caldwell said on Monday.
The breakfast, served March 22 at the Sequim Prairie Grange, reaped $8,200, Caldwell said.
Bigger crowd
And though the 504 people who came outnumbered the attendees in 2008, the net proceeds were smaller than last year, he said.
In 2008, an anonymous donor promised to contribute $1,000 to Friends if another $1,000 came in from others at the event.
All $2,000 flowed in during last year’s breakfast.
But that challenge didn’t materialize this time around, Caldwell said.
Yet the atmosphere was as festive as ever, he believes, thanks to fresh, local eggs, potatoes, bread and jam to go with the non-local ham and coffee — and live local music by three bands.
The Old Time Fiddlers, the youth band Kentucky Bullfrog and Jubilee, a group specializing in bluegrass, country and gospel, supplied a sound track from start to finish, said Patty McManus-Huber, the Friends board member who booked the acts.
About 35 volunteers did the rest of the work, she said, adding that the event runs a little more smoothly each year.
Community support
“We were tired,” afterward, she said, but “we were really feeling like it was a success. The community came through.”
Patrons not only paid $12 per ticket, but they also filled up the tip jars with money that will be funneled into Friends’ purse, McManus-Huber said.
The decade-old organization (www.Friendsofthe Fields.org) is seeking to raise the local match for state and federal grants that will enable it to buy the development rights to the Finn Hall Farm in Agnew.
By purchasing those rights — which will cost about $1 million — Friends will guarantee that the 50-acre property will stay a farm forever.
Last year’s breakfast brought in $10,000, thanks in part to the anonymous donor’s challenge.
In 2007, the event generated less than $6,000.
“Of course, you want to do better each year,” McManus-Huber said. But “we’re living in a very unusual time,” in the wake of the stock-market meltdown.
She’s upbeat, however, and looking forward to the Clallam County Harvest Celebration, which includes farm tours and a hoedown on the first Saturday in October.
Judging from the attendance at the breakfast, McManus-Huber said, “the community is really behind us.”
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley reporter Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at diane.urbani@peninsuladaily news.com.
