First Posted: 10/6/2014
Four-year-old Cali Stevenson, a student of Wilkes Barre Academy’s pre-school program, modeled a custom-made hair bow designed by her mother, Melissa Kanyuck-Stevenson, at the ninth annual The Lands at Hillside Farms Fall Festival this past weekend.
Mother and daughter have been attending the festival every year, but this was the first year that Melissa, of Nanticoke, had her own display stand at the event. She was one of approximately 30 vendors present during the weekend event.
Kanyuck-Stevenson described how she began her unique, customized hair bow and little girl’s accessory business, CaliCake Clips.
“I started off by making small quilted diaper bags when Cali was born, and then it progressed to bows,” she said. The bows are custom made and are designed according to the customer’s preference. Bows made with material featuring Halloween designs such as spiders or pumpkins were featured.
Kanyuck-Stevenson added that “Oreo” the horse and “Matilda” the tutu-wearing goat were among Cali’s favorites at the event.
“Oreo is the white horse with pink, blue and orange polka dots” she explained. Melissa and Cali were joined by Melissa’s mother Patti Kanyuck, also of Nanticoke, and Claudia Vitiello, of Mountain Top. Kanyuck-Stevenson hopes to attend next year’s festival as a vendor.
Nick Duvall, of Duvall Leatherwork in Kingston, displayed a variety of leather belts and other leather goods at the event. It was also his first time attending the festival. Duvall has been selling his leather goods in the farm’s mercantile store for the past six months and emphasized that all of his items are “handmade and made locally.”
Jamberry Nails, a direct sales company for new nail designs, made its debut appearance at the festival. Team leader Kara Zoeller, of Mountain Top, and consultant Trisha Newman, of Saylorsburg, PA, brought a sample of their works, including a nail design featuring a cow print, appropriate for the weekend’s activities. Zoeller has attended the event in the past with her children, and decided to add her 2 ½ year old business to the group of vendors.
The festival gives people, both locally and from other regions, a look at life on an active dairy farm. Spectators were able to tour barns, get a close-up look at livestock, take a tractor ride or a hay ride, listen to live music, view a woodworking demonstration, in addition to the home-cooked food and the vendors, who featured a variety of crafts and products. Children enjoyed activities such as the pony rides, games, face painting and hay maze activities, pumpkin painting, bounce house, and of course, the live animals.
