Sopris Sun THE
VOLUME 1, NUMBER 32 ⢠SEPTEMBER 17, 2009
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Peeling oďŹ the years Potato Day still luscious after 100 years
The Sopris Sunâs Potato Princess, Gina Guarascio, dressed in the fashion of the day, invites us to take a look back to the beginnings of Potato Day. Photo by Jane Bachrach
tâs been a century since the ďŹrst Potato Day celebration. The festival has changed over the decades, growing from a harvest celebration that attracted a few hundred familiar faces to a social event that draws thousands. But according to some of the people who know it best, the community spirit that sustains the event has hardly ďŹickered. âOne hundred years: thatâs a lot of history in the valley and a lot of change, and [Potato Day] seems to have molded to that change,â said former organizer Toni Cerise. âIâve seen some Potato Days that did not have the participation of other ones, but I think that probably in the last 10 to 20 years itâs really been improved on. Itâs a good event for all ages.â The festival hasnât run continuously. It was interrupted during each of the two World Wars, said Cerise, who helped organize the celebration in the 1990s. But Cerise says she is impressed by its long run. âI think Potato Day is Carbondale,â she said. âMountain Fair has its place, too. Mountain Fair certainly has a lot of history with the valley, but Potato Day is just a pure hometown event. It has no motives at all. Itâs just there to celebrate food and friendships.â These days, Potato Day may blend in amongst the many other events in town. But in its early years it was an event to plan for. In fact, it was the event â if you could take time away from the ďŹelds, that is. âIt seems like Potato Day was just the big thing in Carbondale for the year. That was about the only thing the kids would look forward to going to. There wasnât much else,â said Clifford Cerise, Toniâs father. Clifford Cerise was born to a potato-farming family in 1929. He said that many years, he was still harvesting potatoes when the festival rolled around, but that at the very least he would attend the dance, often held on Saturday night. âIt was hard,â Clifford said. âI know that at times me and my sister and my mom and dad used to pick for 25 to 30 days.â Clifford said that once the family ďŹnished harvesting its own spuds there was usually a neighbor who needed help digging his out of the ground.The rush was generally on to unearth the tubers before the ground froze with the winter. Over the decades, the festival has grown away from the potato ďŹelds. Its schedule now coincides with the high school homecoming festivities instead of the ripening crops. For the last 15 years, Potato Day has been organized by the women of the local Xi Gamma Tau, and Zeta Epsilon, sororities. In the early days the meat was donated and the spuds, which were baked in household ovens were, too. These days, Potato Day organizers solicit sponsorships to offset the costs of the event. But Eva Cerise, who currently sits on the Potato Day Committee and has helped organize the event for the past 15 years, asserts that the Potato Day tradition is alive and well. Eva said she stays involved partly out of respect for Carbondaleâs history. âIâm doing it to keep the tradition going,â she said, and asserted that many of her fellow organizers are involved for that reason as well. The Sopris Sunâs Potato Day coverage continues on page 5.