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Mike Miller of Base Camp Outfitters and Cabin Fever Gifts in Killington works on a hay sculpture as part of the town’s Hay Festival and Grass Menagerie. The festival continues through Columbus Day. Albert J. Marro/Rutland Herald |
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By Cristina Kumka
STAFF WRITER - Published: September 5, 2010
Killington tourists can do a scavenger hunt, see dogs jumping from docks and donate to oil spill cleanup efforts all in the same visit, as part of the town’s 2010 Hay Festival.
The attraction, packed with 10 events over the next five weeks, is focused on giving people hay and having them stay. Local business owners have built 35 hay sculptures to attract more visitors up the mountain, then offer them discount lodging packages and activities through Oct. 11.
Representatives of the mountain town and Bruce Hyde, Vermont’s commissioner of tourism and marketing, kicked off the festival and “Grass Menagerie” hay sculpture attraction Thursday morning with a crowd of 30 locals, politicians and a giant hay pelican outside the Grist Mill Restaurant.
The festival runs from Labor Day to Columbus Day.
The plan is for visitors to stop at the Grist Mill, the festival’s headquarters, to get a scavenger hunt questionnaire and play in the hay maze.
Then, visitors can stop at 36 locations in town, most with hay sculptures — From Trail Creek Condominiums to Spa at the Woods — to get questions and answers about animals.
Visitors are asked to fill out the questionnaire with the information from 15 or more sites and return it to the Grist Mill.
For every questionnaire returned, a donation will be made to the National Audubon Society.
For every questionnaire returned with 20 or more questions and answers, the applicant will be entered in a weekly raffle for Killington prizes.
The town is also offering “Hay and Stay” lodging packages from $38 to $53 per night, with donations from the packages also going to the Audubon Society.
Plush toys from the Audubon Society will also be on sale at many of the scavenger hunt sites and a hay festival ale by Long Trail will be served at local restaurants.
Activities through the month of September include an agility dog contest called Killington Dock Dogs, the Killington Classic Motorcycle Touring Rally and the Pico Septemberfest.
Marvin Elliott, co-president of the Rutland County chapter of the society, said a partnership with a municipality is a rare occurrence, but a welcome one.
“It’s an excellent idea,” he said. “The timing is perfect considering the disaster in the Gulf.”
According to Elliott, all the proceeds from hay festival donations go toward the cleanup effort.
For more information on the 2010 Hay Festival and Grass Menagerie, go to www.discoverkillington.com.
cristina.kumka @rutlandherald.com
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