Dionysus was the god of the grape harvest, winemaking and wine, of ritual madness and ecstasy in Greek mythology

Of the multitudes, whom descended upon The Village of Augusta, last Friday evening, hundreds and possibly even thousands were delighted to see the Greek God of Wine make an appearance in the annual Strawberry Festival parade.  Although, some were disappointed in Dionysus for tossing out candy to the children, rather than giving wine samples to the throngs of people, a good time was still had by all.  Everyone said it was the largest crowd they could remember in all  the years of the festival,  a great thing considering that the proceeds go to our local volunteer fire department. 

             I don’t know the exact year when the first strawberry festival was held,  sometime in the 1950′s I would guess.  Until the 1980′s the area surrounding Augusta was noted for the quality and quantity of strawberries grown, however the men and women who grew the fruit became older and the next generation of fruit growers couldn’t realize the profits in strawberrries that the pick your own operations previously generated.  Interestingly enough, there are a few growers attempting to revive the strawberry growing tradition of the area. 

             One of the things currently on my list of ”stuff”  to do, secure enough strawberries for a batch of Augusta’s finest strawberry wine.

-Your winemaker,

  Brent