What a great event on Monday with Garrett Trails hosting the Taste of Garrett County!  Lots of local chefs stopped by the

A new event celebrating local farms and foods August 10 will feature commemorative posters created with winning photos from a contest announced today.

"Our new festival is a dream come true for me," said Cheryl DeBerry, Natural Resources Business Specialist for Garrett County Economic Development.  "The local food movement is alive and well in our region and we should celebrate it, with the goal of getting more local foods from our farmers into the kitchens of our neighbors."

The Serve It Up Local: Celebrating Farms & Food Fest will be held August 10 at the Ag Heritage Hall at the Garrett County Fairgrounds.  The event will highlight the use of local farm products and will include a Cook-Off using local foods, live music, farmer presentations, cooking demonstrations, a Local Sips Social, and a 50-Mile Meal Dinner prepared with foods sourced within 50 miles.  The commemorative posters will be sold and proceeds from poster sales and the event will benefit farm-to-table efforts in the region.

"We're looking for photos that depict the use of local foods and other farm products, such as wool," DeBerry continued.  "Examples could include photos of the farmers markets, a meal someone prepared with locally-sourced foods, kids helping prepare local foods in the kitchen, a farm where foods are being produced, or anything that helps convey the idea of the contest and our event."

All photos will become property of the Serve It Up Local: Celebrating Farms & Foods Fest and can be used at the discretion of the planning committee.  A collage of winning photos will be used on a commemorative poster, and the photographer's name will be printed on the poster as well as on the website, www.ServeItUpLocal.com<http://www.ServeItUpLocal.com> and in media releases about the contest.  The winners of the contest will receive two tickets to attend the 50-Mile Meal Dinner on August 10 at the Serve It Up Local:  Celebrating Farms & Foods Fest.

Photos for the contest should be submitted by July 10.  High resolution electronic versions can be sent to ServeItUpLocal@gmail.com<mailto:ServeItUpLocal@gmail.com> or prints can be dropped off at the University of Maryland Extension office at 1916 Maryland Highway, Suite A, in Mt. Lake Park.  For more information, visit www.ServeItUpLocal.com<http://www.ServeItUpLocal.com> or email ServeItUpLocal@gmail.com<mailto:ServeItUpLocal@gmail.com> or call 240-442-2585<tel:240-442-2585>.

We're set up to do online ticket sales for the Local Lunch Cook Off, Local Sips Social, and 50-Mile Meal Dinner! 

Buy your tickets now!   http://www.serveituplocal.com/tickets.html

Here are the confirmed restaurants participating in the Culinary Contest so far!  What a selection of lunchtime delights we'

• Savage River Lodge
• Ace's Run at Will O' the Wisp
  
• Firefly Farms Creamery (Accident)
  
• Ristorante Ottaviani (Cumberland)
• Boomtown Java (WV)
• Richwood Grill (Morgantown)
  

Gleaned from the Oakland B&O Museum Newsletter, Summer 2013: check out the first listing below! 

A Record of Building the Oakland Train Station - from The Republican, 1884-85

• April 12, 1884 - "The old depot building at Oakland has been taken down and the material removed to Mr. Weber's garden farm near Oakland, where it will be used in the construction of hot houses. When will we get the new depot building ?"
• May 24, 1884 - "The B&O RR Co. Propose to build a bridge across Little Yough at the foot of Oak Street, to connect with the Oakland Hotel grounds. The lumber is already on the ground."
• June 21, 1884 - "It is said that the new depot building at Oakland will be erected at once."
• June 28, 1884 - "Work was commenced on the new depot building at Oakland this week. The work will be pushed rapidly until the building is completed."
• August 30, 1884 - "The foundation for the new depot in Oakland, a massive piece of stone work, will be completed next week."
• September 20, 1884 - "The B&O RR Co. intend to erect four cottages in the rear of the hotel [Deer Park] for summer visitors, and Vice-President Robert Garrett will have a summer residence between his father's and his brother's cottages."
• [Sept. 26, 1884 - John W. Garrett died at Deer Park.]
• October 4, 1884 - "Work was resumed on the new depot building at Oakland Monday and the building will be completed in a short time."
• January 17, 1885 - "The new depot at Oakland is completed with the exception of plastering, which will probably not be done until spring. A large force of carpenters are now engaged in laying new platforms."

Thanks to Bob Shaffer for doing the research for this!

Do you remember Weber's Greenhouses?