MIDDLETOWN – Join Cornell Cooperative Extension Orange County (CCEOC) on Friday, September 16th from 5:00 to 9:00 P.M., for the seventh annual Bountiful Harvest Celebration. The celebration will feature an evening of good old-fashioned fun at CCEOC’s Education Cen- ter and 4-H Park in Otisville. This year’s Bountiful Harvest is celebrating all things bee-themed including a specialty cocktail made with locally sourced honey and gin. Festivities will include hay wagon rides, a sumptuous farm-to-table dinner from locally sourced favorites prepared by Country Courtesy Catering, and the highlight event – a celebrity cow milk- ing contest. All proceeds from the event will support the continued development of the Education Center & 4-H Park located at 300 Finchville Turnpike, Otisville, New York. When completed, the site will be a regional state-of-the-art education, exhibition and outreach facility, geared toward human development opportunities, and cutting edge agricultural programs.

As part of the autumn evening celebration, local celebrity cow milkers representing Orange County’s legal industry will compete against one another in a friendly cow milking challenge. The celebrities will have two minutes to show off their talent in hand milking a cow. All four celebrities are also collecting donations for CCEOC in a friendly “wagering” of pledges that accompany the contest, increasing the hype tremendously as we approach the date. Celebrity milkers include Michele Babcock of Jacobowitz & Gubits, Kevin Foley of Johnson, Foley & Cirigliano, Lia Fierro of Latchman Cohen, and Ashley Torre of Naughton & Torre. Chris Van Aken, of Van Aken Dairy, in New Hampton, N.Y., will provide both the celebrity cows for milking and milking lessons for the contestants prior to the event.

“The goal of our unique fundraising event is to get the Orange County community involved with local agriculture and to educate residents about the numerous types of farming; all of which are taking place in their own backyards. We are delighted to have Country Courtesy prepare this year’s farm-to-table dinner with local products as well as to partner with local law firms for our cow milking contest!” said Jill Van Aken, Community Outreach Coordinator of Cornell Co- operative Extension Orange County.

Folks will have the opportunity to enjoy a “bee-utiful” evening with raffle baskets, old-fashioned games, and a live auction as they enjoy local, homemade apple crisp and ice cream sundaes. We are excited to announce that Derrik Wynkoop, President & CEO of Walden Savings Bank will be our auctioneer. All raffle baskets, game prizes, and live auction items have been donated by local friends and businesses of CCE Orange County.

CCEOC would also like to thank the 2022 sponsors for the Bountiful Harvest Celebration; with a special thanks to the Acorn Level sponsors including Naughton & Torre LLP, Jeff Bank, Jacobowitz & Gubits LLP, Johnson Foley & Cirigliano P.C., and Latchman Cohen PC.

Please note that tickets are required to attend this event and are $150 per person or $1,000 for a table of eight. To learn more about the event, purchase your tickets or to pledge financial support for one of the celebrity cow milkers, visit www.cceorangecounty.org/events, or contact Jill Van Aken at 845-344- 1234 or jd863@cornell.edu.