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Farm on the town returns to Hancock

Photo courtesy of Sunflower Books and Coffee Highland cows are one feature of this Saturday’s Farm on the Town. This family oriented event features agricultural producers from the area will be showcasing their livestock and produce

Copper Country Farm Bureau is hosting their Farm on the Town event this Saturday, Jun 10 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Sunflower Books and Coffee parking lot. 

This free family event will feature farm hand activities, free ice cream, baby farm animals, a tractor display, a maple syrup and honey bee display, a plant station, and their new event this year – an egg decorating competition. 

This will be the second year that Farm on the Town will be held at Sunflower Books and Coffee store. 

“It was previously held in Houghton, but we brought it to Sunflower last year and it went so well, so we’re gonna do it again,” said store owner Susan Mattila.

She mentioned that last year’s event had such a large turnout despite the rain that they were able to give out every single prize they had. This year, they stocked up with more supplies, prizes, and goodie bags in preparation for another large crowd. 

She explained a bit about how the event works. 

“So families show up and start by the check-in table, where each kid gets a little basket. From there, they can go around and stop to see the animals, the vendors, or any of the different garden or orchard spots. They get little tokens and then they can turn them in at the end of it and they get a bag of goodies. A lot of these goodies are donated from local businesses, which is huge,” Mattila said.

The new egg decorating event will provide the kids with a fake egg and a pack of craft supplies. After they decorating it, they can bring it back to Farm Bureau Insurance Office in Houghton for a fun prize. “They will be on display there for the community to see. We had all the supplies and thought, let’s see what the kids come up with,” she said with a big smile.  

They fully block off the parking lot areas for the day and set up tents that line the building and come around. “We also make sure to keep the animals towards the back where it’s calm and they won’t be scared by the road noises,” she added. 

Visiting with the animals tends to be a fan favorite amongst people of all ages. 

“The plan is to have some sheep, goats, a calf, highland cattle, and possibly a bunny too. All of the local farmers enjoy this too because they get to share the animals with the community and educate them about what they do,” she stated. 

Drawing attention to the agricultural community and the opportunities they provide through their work is primary to the event.

“The main purpose of this event is to introduce kids to agriculture. They’ll get to see some of the produce that is grown locally and the animals that are raised locally by farmers too. It’s a fun day,” Matilla explained. 

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