Crickfest provides family-friendly fun, raises funds for local education

It was a good day to dip your toes into the creek, provided the crayfish weren’t pinching.

The Penns Valley Conservation Association hosted the 14th annual Crickfest Sunday at Coburn Park in Coburn, bringing families, animals, music and food to the tiny town and the shores of Penns Creek. As always, the fest benefited the PVCA’s educational programs.

“This is our big fundraiser for the educational program,” PVCA community outreach committee chairwoman Martha Hoffman said. “Our educational outreach started about five or six years ago, and involves field trips and lessons in local biology and sustainability.”

The PVCA also hosts community days, she said, providing free education to community members.

From what Hoffman said she was seeing, Sunday’s Crickfest looked like it was drawing a record crowd. About 1,200 were expected, and the fest itself was projected to raise about $8,000 — half of the association’s education costs.

Hoffman said the larger crowd could have been due to some tweaks to previous fests, saying this year they had more childrens’ events, some more “rockin’ music” and food vendors.

Nomad Kitchen, recently highlighted in a food truck series by the CDT, was on the scene to provide local food options. By 5 p.m., the truck was already out of burgers.

Over the past 20 years the PVCA has brought more than $1.5 million to the upper Penns Creek watershed. One project currently underway, PVCA watershed commission Chairman George Kelly said, involves restructuring the banks of the Muddy Creek, a Penns Creek tributary in neighboring Gregg Township.

By rebuilding the banks and deflecting the water away, he said, it makes the creek narrower, deeper and faster — qualities that help a coldwater environment.

The fest provides a way to support local commerce as well, Hoffman said, providing a connection between people who are focused on growing and raising local produce in a locally sustainable way. As in previous years, people were on hand to provide information on the Centre Region’s Friends and Farmers Cooperative, the Penns Valley regional food system and the Centre County Farmland Trust.

Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center was on hand as well, bringing the children at the fest an up-close look at falcons and owls.

County Commissioner Mark Higgins, who was in attendance, commented on the nice weather, and said he’d been a Crickfest-goer for at least four years. He mentioned that the food truck was a nice addition, noting at one point, the line for food was about 20 minutes long.

“It’s a great time, it’s a beautiful environment,” he said. “It’s just a really fun, laid-back kind of scene.”

This story was originally published September 4, 2016 at 8:46 PM with the headline "Crickfest provides family-friendly fun, raises funds for local education."