Sugar Beets and Sunflower Saturday wildly successful

A beautiful fall day set the scene Saturday for Lovell’s second annual Sugar Beets and Sunflowers Fall Festival. After another successful turnout, organizers are already preparing for next year’s event. This year, the festival also raised money for the Lovell Library, which has faced funding cuts tied to declining property tax revenue.

The soup stroll benefiting the library was a highlight of the day. Eight businesses opened their doors to volunteers serving homemade soups and collecting donations. Each stop offered several varieties, and everyone was welcome to sample the soups regardless of whether they donated.

At Valley Flower and Gifts, owner Cheryl Lewis hosted soups prepared by Cam Miller and Hailey and Leah Sorenson. Guests sampled Thai, enchilada and ham and bean soups. The Greybull library contributed sourdough bread to accompany the soup walk.

 “Saturday had a great turnout and was great for business,” Lewis said. “I look forward to being a part of next year’s event.” Other participating businesses shared her enthusiasm. “There were a ton of people here in the morning and throughout the day,” Cindy Asay of Wild Edge said.

Linda Morrison of the Lovell Area Chamber of Commerce said the chamber was busy throughout the day. She estimated the soup walk raised about $2,000 for the library. Organizers also gave away $500 in Chamber Bucks, which expire at the end of December and will help keep that money circulating in the community this year, Morrison said. She reminded residents that another Chamber Bucks giveaway will be held during the upcoming Mingle on November 21.

The Horseshoe Bend Motel embraced the effort to support the Lovell Library while showcasing local businesses and talent.

“This was a much better turnout than we expected, by far,” Amber May said. The motel hosted two local food trucks, live music by local performer Kasen Banks, a photo booth, games and pumpkin painting. It also raffled four gift baskets assembled from local donations, along with a hayride donated by T&C Farms of Laurel.

All proceeds went to the library. May said the motel raised nearly $600 and plans to present a check to the library team. Between 60 and 70 pumpkins were painted, and more than 100 people attended the motel’s activities, she estimated. For May, the best part was seeing the community rally around one cause — supporting local businesses and the people and places residents value.

A new addition to the Sugar Beets and Sunflowers festival was the Chunkin Punkin event at Lovell Middle School. Two trebuchets built by Lily Burns and Kade Baxendale launched about 20 pumpkins, giving organizers and spectators ideas for expanding the event next year. Organizers hope more community builders will construct trebuchets and encouraged interested residents to begin their projects soon.