Put on your fancy cloves

Get all dressed up as Garlicpalooza returns to Toledo

By Gretchen Ammerman

Oregon Coast TODAY

Sadly, there are some who think cilantro tastes like soap. And when it comes to food fights, beets are hard to beat. But garlic? The “stinking rose” is an almost sure bet for bringing together everyone at the table.

The beloved bulb will be getting the star treatment in Toledo this Saturday, Sept. 26, when Garlicpalooza takes over Memorial Field for an afternoon of food, music and fall fun.

The event sprouted from the Lincoln County School District's vibrant gardening program, where kids are involved with everything from greenhouse building to providing fresh produce for school lunches.

“Our garlic growing went well this year even with the weird weather,” said Scott Barker, school garden coordinator for the district. “But based on the amazing turnout we had at our first event last year, we will be supplementing our supplies to make sure we have enough.”

The supply of garlic is especially important for the garlic braiding station, where dried flowers can be added to create braids that look so good the garlic might never actually be used for cooking.

Guests also can try their hand at veggie pickling, stop by the fall photo booth or put their literary talents to work in a garlic poem contest.

One of the most popular parts of last year’s event, the cider pressing station, will return with less pressure to come prepared with supplies from home — both the apples and containers will be supplied this year.

“We pressed about 36 gallons last year and ended up running out of containers,” Barker said. “This year we are prepared for 100 gallons.”

Also new this year will be a petting zoo.

“So far we for sure will have goats,” Barker said. “We may have more than that on the day but no matter what, kids do love goats.”

Also for kids, the lineup includes face painting, caramel apples, free pumpkins and a cupcake walk.

“The cupcake walk is kind of like musical chairs,” Barker said. “When the music stops, you need to be at a certain station, and that station will award cupcakes.”

There will also be a scarecrow building contest, providing another suitably autumnal way to spend part of the afternoon.

The vendor fair and live music will make the fair fun for the grown-up kids, and Toledo Rotary will be running a raffle with prizes like a wetsuit and board rental from Pura Vida Surf Shop and a glass blowing experience.

Big kids will also have opportunities to appreciate the impact the garden program has on the community.

“The goal of the garden program is to provide hands-on skills for the students along with nutrition awareness,” Barker said. “This kind of hands-on awareness is getting more and more rare, and it translates to students getting higher test scores in science classes.”

The well-curated school gardens currently produce crops like tomatoes, summer and winter squash and edible pollinator flowers, but their benefits extend well beyond edibles.

“We are letting the teachers use the gardens for anything they want,” Barker said. “Some are using them for inspiration for poetry, for math lessons about volume and area and more. It’s hard to quantify how much benefit the garden program has for our kids.”

The program is catching on even beyond Lincoln County thanks in part to the food supply company Sodexo.

“Our partnership with Sodexo allows us to grow produce for the schools and mix it into the food they provide so our fresh produce can go straight into the meals the kids are eating,” Barker said. “The kitchen is very proud to serve those meals. Sodexo has even agreed to purchase produce from us. Our program is becoming a model for other school districts.”

Though early fall can be an iffy time for outdoor events on the Central Coast, the first Garlicpalooza was a big hit.

“We were pleasantly surprised by the crowds and support we had last year,” Barker said. “I hear a lot of positive feedback from the community. That made it really pleasant as I was going around getting support for this year’s event.”

Saturday’s festivities run from 11 am to 4 pm at Memorial Field in Toledo. For more information, go to lincoln.k12.or.us or call 541-336-2146.