By Darlene Bowers
“The Harvest and Herb Festival showcases Main Street and our town. It’s the town, the personality of our town; friendly and welcoming,” shares Arlene (Lasko) Allison who is the epitome of warmth and a down-home welcome.
Arlene’s ever-present smile, bubbly personality, and graceful demeanor are contagious. She’s the friend you want to hang out with, the mom other mom’s know and love, and the educator whom kids are thrilled to bump into away from school. Arlene and husband, Scott, and also Anna Poling are instrumental in the implementation and production of Ada’s Harvest and Herb Festival.
“It’s also a tourist thing and a homecoming. Many of the vendors and performers are originally from Ada,” says Arlene, who goes on to explain that the festival often coincides with a special ONU day such as Parents' Day or Family Day.
Arlene has always lived in Ada. Her mom and grandma are Ada folk too. From her dining room, surrounded by family photos and a beautiful tree mural depicting a verse from Romans 11:16, Arlene can point across the yards to the home she grew up in as an only child.
Scott grew up nearby too, but they seemingly played in different groups. They shared the same 4th grade classroom and apparently didn’t really notice each other until sharing classes in junior high and high school.
They both participated in marching band and show choir which brought them front and center to performances at past Harvest and Herb Festivals. Arlene fondly recalls the adopted moms that often chaperoned on buses and helped with booster activities and such in high school.
A handful of those same adopted moms selected the warm, friendly, exuberant, and ultra competent couple (now married and raising three children) to take on many of the Harvest and Herb duties when the ladies decided to step down. They also recruited Anna Poling to handle the parade duties.
It didn’t take too much convincing. Both Arlene and Scot have fond memories of Harvest and Herb and, “I didn’t want to see it die out,” says Arlene. These ladies had it down to a science the couple discovered. “So why change it,” exclaims Arlene, “the only thing we did change was moving the end time up from 5 p.m. to 4 p.m., and that was a recommendation of the prior team, too.”
Arlene’s part of the duties deals with all the mailings and correspondence, entertainment venue, compiling posters, ensuring necessities are reserved and available, countless coordination details, and the queen competition.
A 1992 Harvest and Herb queen herself, Arlene is the perfect spokesperson and huge supporter of the competition.
“It is an honor,” proclaims Arlene, “It’s not a popularity contest. It’s very professional. The interview questions are from college scholarship interviews. The essays submitted by the contestants are of a caliber that they can be used as college applications later, and the judges have Ohio Northern University, Ada Area Chamber of Commerce and Ohio pageant system ties.”
Arlene’s favorite part of the festival each year take place after the parade, after the Ada High School band has played the national anthem, and after the queen crowning when the opening festivities end and the festival is at its busiest.
“Between noon and 1 o’clock…seeing the mass of people in the heart of the town,” is how Arlene describes it. It is undoubtedly a picture etched in the minds of others too who have found themselves standing at one end of Main Street or the other taking in the sea of humanity.
The festival is in its 29th year and this year will boast approximately 170 booths which Scott manages with spreadsheets that awe and inspire his wife. Arlene raves about the mastery with which Scott handles the logistics and nuances of booth requests and placements.
“In August we receive 10 to 30 calls a day from vendors or potential vendors,” explains Arlene. It’s a lot of work for these busy parents of Rob (13), Grace (11), and Jillian (8).
Arlene attended ONU where she earned a degree in elementary education with a reading endorsement. She currently works for Ada Schools as an Intervention Specialist in Title I Reading. She has also held various substitute teaching positions and a junior high health teaching position at Ada.
Arlene’s passions are her family and their usual school and sport activities, travel, pictures (taking and collecting, printing, organizing, categorizing), music, and non-stop baking.
Favorite travel spots are Hawaii, Maine, and Disney. Cookies are the favorite item to bake, but Arlene is also working on her pie baking, meringue perfecting and she bakes cakes too. Grace is the chief cookie chef and regularly shares her creations with her classmates.
As you visit the Harvest and Herb Festival this year on Sept 20, take a moment to appreciate the people and families behind the scenes devoting their time to prolonging an Ada tradition.
You’re sure to get a glimpse of how it showcases our town, and you’ll probably also glimpse the exuberance and wholehearted passion of Arlene Allison welcoming you to enjoy the personality of our town.
