LEVERETT — As the closest place for some peo
Known as the Rattlesnake Gutter Festival, the event, which begins online Friday at noon at leverettcoop.com/events-at-the-co-op/, will feature a silent auction, music and dance, farm tours and a membership drive.
Event organizer and board member Karen Traub said the festival was developed after the COVID-19 pandemic forced the activities committee to cancel a party to celebrate those who helped pay down a debt that approached $200,000 and nearly caused the dissolution of the co-op.
“When we got an anonymous challenge pledge of $7,500, a livestreamed event seemed like the perfect cross between a festival and a telethon,” Traub said.
Board president Samuel Black said the co-op is in a much better place than it was last fall. “Debts to local businesses and larger-scale food suppliers are paid off, and other debts have been consolidated and will be paid off as becomes necessary,” Black said.
The co-op has also installed new refrigerators and freezers, made needed repairs to the building and is in search of a full-time general manager, as it aims to increase revenue by 50% to offset staff salaries.
Community donations and loans were also supplemented by a forgivable federal Payroll Protection Program loan, a 30-year low fixed-interest Emergency Injury and Disaster Loan, and support from the state’s Food Security Infrastructure Protection Program.
Among those who will perform at the festival are the Wildcat O’Halloran Band, Boys of the Landfill, the Wendell Warriors drum circle, flutist Laura Botkin and the Crescent Dancers. Dean Cycon of the fair-trade coffee company Dean’s Beans and documentary filmmaker Steve Alves will both talk about building healthy local economies and why Franklin County is special.
Tours will include interviews with food suppliers and conservationists — including the owners of Diemand Farm in Wendell and Apex Orchards in Shelburne Falls, and Jono Neiger of the Regenerative Design Group, which planted a permaculture garden and fruit trees behind the co-op — as well as a visit to the state’s largest privately owned conservation restricted land, the Paul C. Jones Working Forest in Leverett.
Throughout the festival, and starting at 8 a.m. Monday, numerous items and services, including original artwork, a private Zoom cooking class and landscaping services by Grass Roots, will be part of a silent auction, which wraps up with a live auction during the telethon between 4 and 6 p.m. Auction items will be bid on through the co-op’s website at leverettcoop.com/