Busy summer weekend on tap

Joyce Ashley
Vernon Record
A busy weekend is scheduled in Vernon with a number of fun and food events on tap.
Beginning Saturday morning, June 8, the Farmers Market will be open from 8 a.m. to 12 noon with Blackberry Day as the theme.
Vendors will be set up around the courthouse square to offer fresh produce from the area as well as other items. There will be free blackberry cobbler samples to those visiting the booths.
Live music will be provided from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. by Rick Babek.
Also on Saturday morning, Lemonade Day will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. with a number of downtown merchants taking part by offering samples of various flavors of lemonade to those who visit their businesses.
Vernon is also participating in the Hwy. 82/287 and Beyond Texas and Oklahoma Yard Sale on Friday and Saturday with residents invited to hold yard and garage sales on those dates. Maps may be picked up at the Chamber office, 1614 Main Street, pinpointing sales.
Topping off the day on Saturday will be the Farm-to-Table Dinner to be held from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Red River Valley Museum. There Chef Chris Mujica will serve a menu that includes hors d’oeuvres of pickled beets, deer sausage crostini, blue cheese and onion jam canape, deviled eggs with crispy capers, and cucumber cup with mozzarella and vegetable caviar.
The first course will be spring salad with green beans and toasted pecans dressed with a citrus vinagerette. Making up the main course will be braised short ribs on a bed of ricotta herb mashed potatoes with roasted cauliflower, chimichurri, and a red wine reduction sauce. Dessert will be a creamy cheesecake with honey lavender toffee and befuddled berries.
Tickets to the dinner are $40 and are available at The Refinery or eventbite.com.
“The June 8th Farm to Table dinner will celebrate delicious locally grown and seasonal produce and products from our region,” Monica Wilkinson, project coordinator for the Red River Valley Local Food Expansion Project with Vernon College, sponsor of the event, said.
The RRVEP is a three-year USDA grant awarded to Vernon College that aims to increase the production and consumption of local food in the Red River Valley region.
In addition to the weekend activities, on Thursday, June 6, there will be a Sidewalk Chalk Art competition. Art entries must be completed by June 6 at 6:45 p.m. The competition will be divided into age groups. Those interested may contact Amanda Lehman, Main Street Director, at 839-8139 for registration information.
But the fun doesn’t stop on Saturday. On Sunday, June 9. the Second Baptist Church will sponsor a City-Wide Picnic and Car Show beginning at 5 p.m., at the church, on the corner of Beaver and Sand Road.
Free hot dogs and hamburgers will be served, and residents are invited to bring out their classic cars, motorcycles, hot rods and vintage vehicles.
There will be live music and worship from area churches as well.
Those attending may wish to bring their lawn chairs.
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