GARLIC FEST CELEBRATES THE PUNGENT BULB

Festival continues tradition of late founder

SAUGERTIES, N.Y. >> Precisely at the stroke of 10 a.m. Saturday clouds were moved from in front of the sun as the 30th edition of the Hudson Valley Garlic Festival gates opened as if by the hand of founder Pat Reppert from heaven.

Reppert passed as away in December but co-founders Martha Meredith and Maureen Huben believe the happy weather came from their late friend.

“She totally did that,” Meredith said.

Huben noted the number of people passing the Garlic Goddess tent in just five minutes Saturday probably exceeded the entire attendance of the festival’s early years.

“The first year I think there was less than 100 people and the second year maybe 200,” she said.

Those numbers combined were waiting at the gates Saturday as lovers of the pungent

bulb were lined up and ready to seek out their favorite suppliers. As sips of garlic vinegar were being sampled and taste testing of garlic pesto gave rise to smiles many hard core enthusiasts agreed one can call it whatever they want but it is a marvel of the culinary world.

“Garlic can be used as something that accents other food items like a spice or as a garnish that works in combination with any number of other items that make a primary meal better,” Westchester resident Betsy Woods said. “It is also something that is scientifically unique, where the smaller one chops the garlic the better it is for you. There is a compound called allicin in garlic and if you grate it or pound it or cut it in to tiny piece the more you get of the compound.”

Specialists at the festival, where there are quite a few people who qualify as having significant professional and amateur garlic preparation skills, agree that it is a magic food that is rarely eaten on as a primary meal.

The Hudson Valley Garlic Festival will continue from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday at Cantine Field, with entrances on Washington Avenue and Market Street. Admission is $10.

WILLIAM J. KEMBLE PHOTO Kelly, right, and Dylan Gray, son and daughter of Stephanie Gray of Grace Garden & Greenhouse in Oppenheim, N.Y.

WILLIAM J. KEMBLE PHOTO Patrons at the Hudson Valley Garlic Festival at Cantine Field in Saugerties on Saturday.

WILLIAM J. KEMBLE PHOTO Kimberly Ludrick, and daughter Jaden, 11, of Newburgh, taste garlic vinegar at the Hudson Valley Garlic festival at Cantine Field in Saugerties on Saturday.

WILLIAM J. KEMBLE PHOTO Martha Meredith, left, and, Maureen Huben, right, co-founders of the Hudson Valley Garlic Festival, along with Dallas Gilpin, center, look at some photos from past events, including of founder Pat Reppert, who died in December 2017.

WILLIAM J. KEMBLE PHOTO A photo of Hudson Valley Garlic festival founder Pat Reppert, who died in December.