Business Notebook: Believe it or not, Applefest is only nine days away

WARWICK-Warwick's 17th annual Applefest is scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 2, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The traditional festival has been held since 1988 to celebrate the local apple harvest. And although no one knows for sure, it has been estimated that the popular Hudson Valley event brings approximately 30,000 visitors to this area each year. Coordinator Betty Garrison and her committee have been planning for the one-day festival since last fall. Last year it played host to 268 craft vendors and 40 food vendors. Planned events include music and dancers, a strolling mime, a variety of free entertainment, children's rides and the traditional apple pie contest, open to both juniors and adults, starts at 10 a.m. Judging begins at 11:30 and the pies will be sold by the slice as soon as the winners are announced. This year, local artist Carol Fauerbach was the winner of the annual Applefest tee shirt contest. Applefest is also a major fund raiser and proceeds from the event are used for town-wide community projects and non-profit organizations. Grand opening A new business just arrived. On Thursday, Sept. 15, BINK Essential Baby Gear, 22 Railroad Ave., held a ribbon-cutting ceremony that was well attended by local officials and representatives of the Warwick business community and other organizations. They were on hand to welcome a new retail establishment to the Village and to wish the owners success. Later that same week, the new shop held its Grand Opening celebration. The by-invitation event on Saturday evening, Sept. 17, featured raffles for prizes including a Maclaren stroller. The proceeds of the raffle and a percentage of the store's net profits during the Grand Opening were to be donated to the Kennedy Birthing Center at St. Anthony Community Hospital. Owner Maura Peddle, a former marketing executive and her husband Rick, a Warwick real estate agent, said they are opening BINK to cater to Warwick area parents who want to outfit their nurseries and babies with trendy, high quality baby products typically not found outside of New York City. "Warwick is ready for a store like BINK," said Maura. "It complements the Village of Warwick's community feeling and its thriving downtown, both reasons new families come to Warwick to live. Our shop will offer products usually found in urban centers where many of Warwick's new families have lived. Now, they won't have to travel far to buy many of these items." Maura promises to keep her store looking fresh and different. Many of the items on display are imported from England, Canada and Scandinavia. "We'll always have something different and the lines will be changing throughout the year," she said. BINK's selection of baby gear includes strollers and stroller systems from Combi and Britain's Maclaren; Britax car seats; nursery furniture from Plain Jane; Svan high chairs and Cariboo Bassinets; Fleurville diaper bags and layette and gift sets including Fortune Tees and Sozo. BINK will also carry nursing and maternity bras from Bravado and Belabumbum. And for dads, the store will offer DadGear camouflage print diaper bags. Special services provided by BINK include home or hospital delivery in Warwick and free gift-wrapping. There's also a community bulletin board and a preferred vendor program with resources for parents as well as seminars and coffee breaks. "We want our shop to be a cozy and friendly place," said Maura. BINK is open Sunday and Monday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Call 988-BINK. Beads of Hope . . . Beads of Healing The posters are up and it's not uncommon to see people walking about town wearing strings of beads a-la-Mardi Gras. Local merchants recently formed a committee to raise funds for the victims of Hurricane Katrina and many local businesses have signed on to sell the beads for a $1 per string donation. The program, sponsored by the Warwick Valley Merchant Guild and the Warwick IBA, runs from Sept. 12 to Oct. 16 and will end with a Mardi-Gras style "Jazz Festival." Well-known composer/pianist Richard Kimball, a resident of Warwick, has offered to serve as musical coordinator and what began as modest plans for this celebration are now growing by leaps and bounds. There will be some big surprises and more details to follow. The entire proceeds will go to the American Red Cross to help the victims of the Gulf Coast and New Orleans disaster. To make a contribution or for more information, call: 988-0580 or 987-7600