The 116th annual Potato Days has arrived with a plethora of community activations in store over the weekend on par with the theme: “The Grate Spudsby” — an homage to the 100th anniversary of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, “The Great Gatsby.” This year’s Potato Days is particularly special in that it honors the life of a local farmer and friend to many in Carbondale, Casey Piscura.
“Just like a century ago, we’re emerging from challenging times with a deeper appreciation for what really matters: gathering together, celebrating what we’ve built with our own hands and supporting the neighbors who feed us,” described a press release.
Not long ago, Carbondale Parks and Rec took over coordinating Potato Days with the help of local nonprofits and other community-based organizations. This year, one of Piscura’s friends, Kat Hardy, took the helm as event coordinator and Kade Gianinetti continues in his ancestors’ footsteps as the duo breathes new life into the age-old tradition.
Hardy, who also heads up Dandelion Day, loves to throw a seasonal party and finds meaning in gathering. She recalled conversations with Piscura about “connecting the dots between stewarding the land and stewarding the people.”
Gianinetti explained that a number of families who settled here at the turn of the 20th century, including his own, still have a presence today. While many emigrated to work in coal mines, they also brought the know-how to farm the land.
“In that time period there was a huge potato farming movement in the Valley,” said Gianinetti. “It was something to be really proud of, and for that they formed the harvest festival at the end of the year and called it ‘Potato Days.’ That first festival started in 1909.”
Gianinetti’s grandfather, Ernie, was a key figure at Potato Days for many years. “Ernie put so much energy in,” said Gianinetti, who explained that in his later years his grandfather would always find something that needed to be fixed — from the ground where the potatoes were unearthed to the pits where the meat and potatoes are baked in Sopris Park. “[His] energy of always just being there, being supportive, and always pushing to make stuff better was really cool.”
After last year’s celebration, Gianinetti turned to Parks and Rec Director Eric Brendlinger and asked if the current model was sustainable, pulled together year after year with good will and no small amount of grit.
“So we put our heads together and decided to create a Potato Days production fund where the Historical Society would raise money needed to put on the festival,” Gianinetti stated. “We’ve been doing that for just over a year, I’d say, and been successful. We have a good little pot for future events and hopefully we get it to another hundred years.”
This frees up the funding generated during the event — from lunch proceeds to parade entry fees to yearly sponsorships — “to be a vehicle for change,” Gianinetti added. That revenue will feed a community impact fund that will benefit a different organization associated with sustainable farming each year.
Community impact
The inaugural recipient of the community impact fund is Seed Peace – Casey’s Fund Supporting Farmers, a nonprofit carried on by the late agriculturalist’s parents, Bob and Debbie, that supports farmers in ways they often go underserved.
Much like the early potato growers of Carbondale, Casey “was a wizard when it came to co-creating with the earth and climate and the land here,” stated Hardy. His business, Wild Mountain Seeds, eventually gave birth to Seed Peace, a nonprofit enveloping his mission to expand regenerative farming and provide fresh, quality produce to folks experiencing food insecurity. After his passing in February, Rita Marsh of The Center for Human Flourishing helped triage Seed Peace into the care of his parents who continue the nonprofit today with a renewed purpose.
“Casey’s family has taken it over and now, instead of it being about the seeds and agriculture, it’s to provide health care services — mental health, primary care and holistic well-being vouchers — to farmers,” Hardy said.
Seed Peace is two-pronged, Bob explained. The “FarmStrong” element is a developing suite of medical and wellness services for qualifying farmers that includes partnerships with local providers. Farmers do not need to qualify financially for the mental health services Seed Peace provides, which include local and state-based providers.
“Any money that goes to Seed Peace, all of that money is going directly to pay benefits to these farmers,” said Bob, who covers other expenses, such as travel and schwag, out of pocket. In fact, the Piscuras are matching every dollar up to $150,000 raised before Dec. 1 themselves.
This will be Bob’s first Potato Days. He’s making the trek out from the New River Valley of Virginia, where the nonprofit also serves local farmers. Seed Peace will have a booth at the park for those interested in learning more.
“Farming is more than a livelihood — it’s a calling. It can also be isolating and exhausting,” Bob stated. “This fund exists to help farmers survive hard times and feel supported — mind, body and spirit.”
Weekend highlights
On Thursday, Oct. 2 at 4:30pm, folks are invited to help wrap potatoes and corn at Carbondale’s historic Thompson House (301 Lewies Lane), and then can catch a screening of “The Great Gatsby” at the Crystal Theatre at 7pm.
On First Friday, the Carbondale Historical Society will kick off the weekend with a membership drive at True Nature from 5 to 9pm. There will also be a cider press and fall altar at Chacos Park.
First thing Saturday morning, from 8 to 9:30am, Aspen Valley Land Trust will host its “Pre-tato Promenade” at The Coffman Ranch on Catherine Store Road. The Rotary Club will serve up pancakes at Chacos Park starting at 8:30am, followed by Ross Montessori’s annual Tater Trot Fun Run at 9am.
The parade starts down Main Street at 10:30am — feel free to dress to the theme. And there’s rumored to be a tractor pull to follow, but unlike traditional tractor pulls, where tractors do the pulling, farmers will compete to pull the tractors.
Cowboy Coffee will be hot and ready at 9am in Sopris Park, when vendors will also open for business. Colorado Edible Forest will sell heritage, heirloom fruit trees ready for fall planting.
The Community Harvest Lunch, sourced from local farmers, will be served from 11:15am until the food runs out. In keeping with the community impact model this year, there is a pay-it-forward option for people to purchase meal tickets to be given to local farmers or people experiencing food insecurity. Meal tickets can be purchased in advance at www.tinyurl.com/PotatoDays2025
As if that isn’t enough, you can catch the Youth Gymkhana rodeo at the Gus Darien Arena on Sunday from 10am to 2pm. For a full list of events, see page 4 of this week’s Sopris Sun.
Have a bountiful Potato Days, folks.