34th Annual
Mt. Shasta Blackberry Music Festival
Our hearts are with our neighbors and friends affected by area fires.
Where there’s a need, you will find Rotarians. It does indeed, take a village.
Two days before our hosting of the Blackberry Music Festival, the Mt. Shasta Rotary Club was feeling confident and excited. Months of planning, generous business sponsors, volunteer sign-ups, warm (hot) weather and smoke free skies had us all ready for the return of the festival after a two-year hiatus. Feedback on our social media channels and the new event website was encouraging news for a large crowd to attend.
Then, our hearts broke as we watched in disbelief as our neighbors and friends in Weed and lands to the west were destroyed in the #MillFire and #MountainFire. Chaos. The decision on whether or not to hold the festival hinged on the timing of restored power from outages in south Siskiyou County, the availability of vendors and volunteers, and the emotional impact of having a festival when so many were suffering.
Ultimately, mid-Saturday afternoon, roughly 18 hours before festival start, the decision to go ahead was made. But not without a few miracles.
Over 350 blackberry pies had to be assembled and baked. Vendors and musicians needed to be confirmed. Volunteers had to adjust to a shorter timeline for duties and set up. We had to do our best to get the word out to the public that the festival at Shastice Park was a “go”.
Of primary concern was the power disruption and potential loss of all pie ingredients stored in The Milkman’s refrigerated delivery truck. When power went out in Mt Shasta, Rotary President, Lorinda Meyer and her husband offered their 220 outlets at their McCloud property to keep not only Rotary’s pie ingredients cool, but also $10,000 in Justin Pataki’s dairy products inventory. This is a perfect example of the “it takes a village” networking. Pataki was able to deliver his inventory to local grocery stores and pies got made, nothing short of a time sensitive partnership that benefited all.
Not only did a large crowd come out to eat pie, have good family fun and enjoy great music, but thanks to great attendance, Mt. Shasta Rotary is able to help our neighbors and friends with a donation to the Weed Rotary Charitable Foundation to help with #MillFire recovery.
Perhaps this correspondence between a Mt. Shasta Rotary club member and a Weed resident warms your heart as it did ours. “Just got a text from a Weed friend who purchased two prepaid pies that we delivered to her, along with one of our generators,” wrote our member. The grateful recipient replied, "Both my neighbors were so happy to have something delightful to eat that they couldn't have made for themselves during this power outage. So, these are the pies that keep on giving!"
See you next year! Hopefully with less tragedy and more pies! Thank you, EveryOne.
Mt. Shasta Rotary President Presents Check for $5,000 to Weed Rotary Foundation
The Rotary Club of Mt. Shasta is pleased to host the return of the Mt. Shasta Blackberry Music Festival!
The event will be held at beautiful Shastice Park with spectacular views of Mt. Shasta and plenty of room to spread out and enjoy the scene. Along with our famous and hugely popular blackberry pie sales, music offerings, and children's games, we now are able to offer both food and craft vendors in the expanded space Shastice Park provides. See vendor tab for more info.
Please leave your pets at home for their safety and that of festival attendees.
Mt. Shasta Rotary uses the net funds raised from the festival to support a variety of community needs, stay tuned for information about this year's project support.
Enjoy preferred on-site parking at Shastice Park and support youth with a $5 donation per vehicle.
Pies...Pies...Pies!
The heart of the Mt. Shasta Blackberry Music Festival is baked into our blackberry pies. Rotarians, Interact students, and community volunteers hand-craft and bake more than 350 pies the day before the festival. Slices of pie ($6), slice with ice cream ($7) and whole pies ($30) will be sold at the event while supplies last.
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