Monday, April 28, 2008

Great Nebraska Mushroom Festival

Trail Head, Peru, Nebraska

On Saturday and Sunday, April 26 and 27, Peru hosted the inaugural Great Nebraska Mushroom Festival (The preceding link includes a schedule of events) centered at the Steamboat Trace Trail Head.

The event was dedicated to the memory of Charlie Hahn, Mushroomist Extrodinaire.

I did not get to see much of the action on Saturday, as I spent a good part of the day in Lincoln a the NSEA Delegate Assembly (just scroll down); however, I visited the Trail Head late Saturday afternoon to catch some of the entertainment provided by the Bunky Christensen Band; many folks continued then the search for the Morel Mushrooms pictured on the right.

Linda Tynon, pictured on the far left, organized the event with help from Beth of Canfield's Sporting Goods in Omaha, the store that sponsored the event and supplied the $100.00 first prize awarded on Sunday.

And Mark Davis, Omaha World Herald Outdoor Photographer, took part in the event on Sunday and served as a judge for the many awards:


Largest mushroom by weight
Largest mushroom by size/biggest
Smallest mushroom

Best Mushroom Jig (hope you can dance)
Best Tall Tale (accuracy counts)
Youngest hunter

Oldest hunter
Sportsmanship – Grand Prize $100

As you can see from the left to the right, the Youngest Hunter enjoyed his prize as did the winners of the Sportsmanship Grand Prize provided by Canfields.

Check out the slide show of the event and a post-awards-ceremony walk along the Trace Trail and into the woods. You should have no problems downloading photographs that appeal to you.

Linda Tynon invited me to take part in the festival, and I was glad to help out on Sunday afternoon from 1:00-2:00. I brought along photographs of common birds and showed a film about the Trace Trail. And I talked with many people about birds and other things the Trace Trail features, including the Roland Sherman Memorial Area.

Eight of my bird photographs were awarded as prizes, and I joined the group after the
awards ceremony for a walk on the trail and a search for mushrooms.

And while we did not discover any Morel Mushrooms, I enjoyed the walk and did manage to take a photograph of a Rufus-sided Towhee that flitted amidst the branches of a bush along the Trace Trail; these birds possess wonderful red eyes.

Rufus-sided Towhee

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

The festival was a lot of fun, and Bill's photos and knowledge of birds was a highlight for me! I love the Peru area and the Steamboat Trace Trail. I hope to get back there very soon, and often, to watch birds and enjoy the beauty of the area.

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