Heritage Days Celebrations, Part 2: Sugarloaf Mountain Winery Farmers Market

Emily Hoopes and Wil Gutierrez represented Councilmember Duchy Trachtenberg at the Sugarloaf Mountain Vineyard (SMV) Farmers Market as part of Heritage Montgomery’s Heritage Days Celebrations.

Each year, on the last weekend of June, Heritage Montgomery hosts its signature event – the annual Heritage Days Celebration. This two-day, free-of-charge, county-wide event festival offers visitors an opportunity to sample over 40 sites representing the history, culture, and natural beauty of Montgomery County.

Sugarloaf Mountain Vineyard is Montgomery County’s only vineyard/winery. The 85-acre farm includes a restored red barn, silo and windmill and abuts the scenic Sugarloaf Mountain - a Registered National Landmark.Sugarloaf Mountain Vineyard was conceived with awareness of the unique character of the property, the quality of the soil, and with familial commitment. The double-bank red barn – built in the early 1900s – the silo and windmill are all signature landmarks of the farm. Purchased by Dan and Polly O'Donoghue in 1962, the 92-acre “Windmill Farm” has been a working farm and family retreat ever since. Owned and operated by the four children – the McGarry, McKenna and two O’Donoghue families – the transformation from a traditional farm to a vineyard broke ground in 2002. A wine making team was formed, and soon vines were planted and being nurtured. By 2005, the winery was complete and we were making our first vintages. The award-winning results are worth a taste!

To complement the winery, SMV has expanded it's commitment with its weekly Farmers Market on Saturdays,10AM-2PM . Vendor products include: Goat Cheese, local seasonal all natural produce, local grass-fed antibiotic and hormone free beef, eggs, cow cheese, alpaca products, local honey edibles and body care products, artisan handmade jewelry, baked good, and gourmet pastries. The Sugarloaf Mountain Vineyard Farm Market was founded in 2010.

Heritage Days Celebration Part 1

The Trachtenberg staff visited some of the many Heritage Montgomery locations and events that were featured this past weekend (June 26-27) throughout Montgomery County.

Each year, on this last weekend of June, Heritage Montgomery hosts its signature event – the annual Heritage Days Celebration. This two-day, free-of-charge, county-wide event festival offers visitors an opportunity to sample over 40 sites representing the history, culture, and natural beauty of Montgomery County. In addition to the participation of larger, well-supported sites such as Glen Echo Park and the Sandy Spring Museum, Heritage Days offers visitors an opportunity to enjoy many small sites that are not regularly open to the public.

Naomi and her husband visited historic Clarksburg and the Button Farm with a restful stop at Black Hill Park in between.

In Clarksburg they enjoyed live music, good food and friendly people all while touring the featured sites via the free trolley! The highlights of their visit were stops at the 100 year old Clarksburg Elementary School and the Clarksburg United Methodist Church. At each stop their passport-style booklet was stamped and at the end of the visit, having collected all the stamps they collected a small gift which was a great way to end their wonderful visit to historic Clarksburg!

For more information about The Clarksburg Historical Society: P.O. Box 496. Clarksburg, MD 20871. Phone: 301-428-0190 email: JoannClarksburg@aol.com.

At the Button Farm Naomi and her husband walked through the heirloom vegetable garden and visited with Tony Cohen, director of the Menare Foundation and chatted with him about this living history farm. For more information about the Button Farm and the Menare Foundation: http://www.menare.org/buttonfarm.html and/or http://www.menare.org/menare.html.