HOBART - The toes were tappin' and the hands were clappin' on a beautiful Saturday afternoon in the village of Hobart, where an early full house was enjoying the Leatherstocking Jazz Orchestra.
The mood was festive and the spirits were high as the sun came out to smile down on this humongous gathering of people enjoying local brews and sausage.
Hobart Rotary Club member Andrew Flach was working the crowd and conducting live Facebook interviews. He was doing that with a weaner on his head. Everyone said they were enjoying every bit of this local festival, which is exactly the intent of the Hobart Rotary Club that sponsors it.
The Leatherstocking group was the warmup, with South Kortright's own Gary LiCalzi in the group. They are a crowd favorite and they were the warmup for even more music, including the local Fishercats and later in the day up and coming country and American artist Rollo White.
The cooks said they were a bit warm and admitted they were looking forward to seeing the end of the cooking of hundreds of sausages and tons of vegetables so they too could enjoy the fare and the music. The hundreds of sausages, Bratwurst and hot dogs are held warm in containers. They are made from locally raised meat, locally grown vegetables from Shaul Farms and include the Hanselman family's corn. There were many cooks involved in the meal.
The smell of all that was attractive enough as people found a place to park and made their way into the venue.
Add to all of that, a large contingent of volunteers to make sure everything moves efficiently, to husk corn, grill the meat and vegetables, make the salad, serve up the orders and keep the lines for food and brew moving.
Oh, did I mention it was a great day for a nice cold craft beverage and there was plenty of selection.
There were also some vendors to shop.
It is the Hobart Rotary Club's main fundraising event, which allows them to give back to the community with a free community turkey dinner, provide the senior fruit baskets and donate to the other organizations.
