Archive: Around Town

After months of long hours and hard work John and Elizabeth Hamilton opened the John Joseph Inn and Elizabeth Restaurant last Spring on the grounds of the former Rose Inn.  Tomorrow (Saturday, October 13th from 10am - 5pm) they will be holding the first Orchard Festival, a kind of fun open-house where the community can come and see what they've done with the place. 

"It's going to be family-based," John Hamilton says.  "We're going to give free tours of the inn and have a whole series of activities.  For a nominal admission fee there will be games for kids, a bounce castle, apple picking in our orchard, hay rides.  All the animals will be running around.  Prep will be out with the kids, the ducks will be hanging out, and the chickens.  Hopefully some sheep will be stopping by.  Games will include pumpkin tosses, bean bag toss through a witch, plastic spider hunt in the garden.  Crossroads the clown will be there for a few hours, and local teens will offer face painting.  Kids will get to paint pumpkins."


Both Hamiltons are graduates of the prestigious Culinary Institute of America (CIA) with John specializing in the main meal and Elizabeth in baking.  But despite their gourmet cooking experience and background, they are an easygoing young couple with two small sons.  They envision a self-sustained property eventually where the ingredients the use in the meals they cook are fresh from their own farm.  "The only thing formal here is the food," Hamilton says.  "We want as many people to come as possible.  We want to make this a property that is open to everyone, and a cornerstone of the community."

While the Orchard Festival is designed to promote their fledgling business, the lifestyle is important to the couple.  "It's a promotional thing for us," he says.  "It's a great way to let people know that we're here, so they will see how great it is, and we hope they'll spread the word.  But first and foremost it's about stretching out our arms to the community and making this a place for people to come."


This festival is the first of what the couple say will be a series of two annual festivals.  "In the Spring we're going to have the Fire Festival," Hamilton explains.  "The Fire Festival will be held on or around the date that the Rose Inn burnt down.  It will be a benefit festival.  The proceeds will go to benefit the local fire departments that responded to the fire."

Hamilton isn't new to creating community activities as part of being in business.  His parents owned and operated Ide's Lanes, and he says they often came up with ways to give back to the community.  "We believe very strongly in that, so we want to do the same," he says.

They also plan cooking and baking classes with a family slant, including a pie baking class with Elizabeth for mothers and daughters, and a father-son grilling class with John.  But these things are in the future, and this week the Hamiltons are nervously watching the weather forecasts, hoping for a good day to hold an Orchard Featival (as of this writing the forecast looks good).  After the festival Hamilton says he will continue the theme into the regular restaurant hours.  "That evening we'll have a special menu in the restaurant that will be everything apple," he says.  "It will feature a lot of great food from our orchard.  It will be a day of fun."

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