Monett Main Street Farm to Table event draws crowd, celebrates producers

By Murray Bishoff Special to the Monett Monthly

Monett Main Street held its inaugural Farm to Table fundraising dinner on Oct. 17 in downtown Monett. 

The event showcased food from local producers and entertainment from local artists. Cheese and milk came from Stil Dreamn Dairy, of Conway, the closest creamery to Monett. Circle M Meats, of Monett, provided meat for the meal. Tudie’s Fruities, from Pierce City, supplied honey. Wildly Baked, from rural Monett, provided sourdough bread. 

More goodies came from the Bread Basket and The Hidden Bake House, regular vendors at the Monett Farmers Market. The University of Missouri Extension dipped into resources at the Southwest Research Center to provide Chambourcin grapes and persimmons that had been made into jams as toppings. The Chambourcin grapes also were part of the wine from Pennington Winery, of Carthage, that were available for the evening. Locally grown dried Jujube fruit from the Southwest Center was served as a dessert item, taking on an apple-like flavor. 

Cassie Branch, program director for Monett Main Street, explained to the participants that students from the Monett GO CAPS program grew pumpkins as their capstone project in anticipation of the event. They also acted as servers and part of the clean-up crew. 

Main Street obtained a special permit from the city to connect Briar House brewery to the event, and closed Broadway between Fourth and Fifth streets to erect a tent for serving in the street. Musical entertainment was provided by singer-songwriter Mark Chapman of Pierce City and Ann Davy, cellist, and Carla Wootton, pianist, from the Ozark Festival Orchestra. Serving was done in the Monett Historical Society’s Events Center and dining was outdoors under the tent. 

Undertaken as a pilot event, Farm to Table sold out of tickets in a few days, boosting total attendance to 81, the limits of the tent size. 

Branch said the event reflected “what Monett has to offer.” 

She deemed the event a success and anticipated another such dinner on a larger scale in the future.