BERLIN—
While the agricultural product this area is most associated with these days is arguably poultry, a century ago it was peaches and this weekend will include a townwide celebration of this drupaceous fruit, on the grounds of the Taylor House Museum. 

Susan Taylor, curator of the Taylor House Museum, said the Berlin Peach Festival attracted 2,000 to 3,000 visitors last year. Attendees will have an abundance of locally-grown peaches and
peach dishes to choose from, along with peach-related products on Aug. 3. 

Mayor Gee Williams will lead off Saturday’s events with a ribbon cutting, assisted by Little Miss and Little Mister Berlin Peach 2012 at 11 a.m.


There will be a myriad of activities for
peach lovers including a peach pie-baking
contest and three pie-eating contests.
Various craft and gift vendors will be on
hand and there will also be demonstrations
and lectures and food available.

Activities for children will include juggling
by Cascading Carlos, an old-fashioned
(cup)cake walk, photo cut-outs
and temporary peach tattoos.

Entertainment
will be provided by Frank Nanna’s fine fiddle and 3 Sheets, a trio that hails
from the eastern shores of Maryland and
Virginia, playing Celtic, nautical, traditional
and contemporary music. Dr. Paul
Ewell will be on hand to discuss nautical
history.

The Calvin B. Taylor House Museum,
which is located at 208 North Main Street,
will be open for tours.

The Calvin B. Taylor House was built
in 1832 and has been home to Robert J.
Henry, who was instrumental in bringing
the railroad to Berlin, and Calvin B. Taylor.
Taylor was a teacher, lawyer and
founder of the Calvin B. Taylor Banking
Company. The Berlin Heritage Foundation
launched a lobbying effort that led to
the town purchasing the house and lot in
1982 and to turning it over to the foundation
to administer as a town museum.

Several downtown merchants will
sponsor tie-in activities as well, such as
the Atlantic Hotel, which will be serving
peach crushes using fresh local peaches
for cocktails, cobblers, barbeque for ribs,
desserts, salsa for fish and sorbets.

Victorian Charm is exhibiting a peach themed
window display, including peach colored
clothing and merchandise from
Fresh Produce sportswear, Spartina handbags
and Tropical Trends hats.


“Starting Wednesday, pretty much
everything we do will have peach in it,”
said Robin Tomaselli of Baked Dessert
Cafe. She said the shop would offer
peach dumplings, the official dessert of
Berlin; peach bars; peach cobbler; peach
cake and peaches stuffed with sorbet.

Cupcakes in Bloom will be offering
cupcakes, peach-flavored lemonade and
whoopie pies.


There is no cost to attend the festival.
Funding for this event was in part provided
by the Worcester County Arts
Council, Maryland State Arts Council
and the National Endowment for the
Arts. The rain date for the festival is Aug.
4, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The peach festival celebrates the history
of what was once the town’s most
prominent business, a horticultural
nursery owned by the Harrison family.
This year’s event will include a commemoration
of the 100th anniversary of
a historical meeting of the Wilmington,
Del. Chamber of Commerce that was
hosted by Berlin’s J. G. Harrison and
Sons Orchards on July 31, 1913.

The horticultural industry meeting
was the preeminent event of its time, explained
Harrison descendent Sandra
(Harrison) Dewey, who recruits other
descendants to participate in the events.
She described the first year of the festival
included a Harrisons celebration that
also served as a family reunion.

Harrison Orchards, which operated
from 1884-1962, was the world’s largest
agricultural nursery in the 1920s, according
to Taylor. At its peak, Harrisons owned
more than 3,000 acres within the nursery
industry, she said. The meeting came on
the heels of Harrisons developing an innovative
technique for eradicating pests
and disease that had been blighting orchards
throughout the region.

Taylor said the logo used for this
year’s festival T-shirts and posters were
from Harrison’s 1908 catalog design,
which features Ray, Crawford Late and
Elberta peaches.

A mural of a Hale peach that was
painted of the building that currently
houses the Go Organic natural foods market
was said to even have a Hollywood connection.
According to Taylor, as movie
director Gary Marshall was walking
through town prior to filming of the movie
“Runaway Bride,” starring Julia Roberts
and Richard Gere, he spotted the mural
and decided to name the fictional rural
town featured in the movie Hale, Md.

The annual peach pageant for 2013
will be sponsored by Berlin Main Street
during the Second Friday Art Stroll event
on Aug. 9 at 6 p.m. Contestants ages 4-7
can sign up during the festival and must
be a resident of Worcester County. For
the pageant they must be accompanied
by a parent or guardian, the dress code
is “Sunday Best,” and no flip-flops. Deadline
for registration will be no later than
5:30 p.m. on Aug. 9 at either the Atlantic
Hotel or the Treasure Chest.

The pageant will be held on the hotel
porch. Contestants will be judged on
their poise, personality and stage presence,
according to Lisa Hall, who is coordinating
the pageant. The winners will
represent the town at various function
throughout the year, she said.

In the event of a tie, the winner will be
determined by answering a question selected
by the judges, according to Hall.
For more information about the pageant,
call Hall at 443-614-6135.
On Aug. 11 at 6 p.m., contemporary
music band Picnic will perform at the
foundation’s third concert on the lawn
this season. Bring a chair and a picnic.
For information about the Peach Festival
and concert series, call 410-641-
1019 or visit taylorhousemuseum.org.