2026 Sunfield Farmers Picnic Brought Fun for All Ages
The Sunfield Farmers Picnic kicked off Friday, August 14, with a half chicken dinner cooked by High’s Rotary Grill and sponsored by the Sunfield United Brethren Church. The 2025 Princess Aurora McDiarmid crowned the 2026 Princess Sophia Cole, daughter of Andrew & Kayla Cole. Their son Brooks Cole was crowned the 2026 Prince. Their Royal Court includes Dixie Gibbs, Lily England, Braxton Kyle, Zander Robins, Jezakiah Rodriguez, Everett Thompson and Malakai Vasquez. Each child was all smiles to receive a big bag of surprises and a T-shirt commemorating the event.
The Sunfield Sponsors of Programs for Youth (SPY's) President Craig Cappon awarded the Friends of Kids award to Sandy Rebec, Tony Harmer received the Rookie of the Year award, Heather Hendges and Melissa Hendges each received the Exceptional Support award, Brian Wellwood and Shana Cappon each received the Beyond the Call of Duty award. Two military veterans were honored with a Quilt of Valor for their service. The Quilts of Valor Foundation began in 2003 with a dream awarding its first Quilt of Valor in November 2003 at Walter Reed Medical Center. Recipients included (first name only) Marine Veteran Art who served from 1957-1959 and active Air Force personnel Ben who enlisted in 2009 and is still in the Reserves.
Children of all ages had fun with the Theis’ Peddle Pull, sponsored by Nutrien Ag Solutions. Winners for five years and under were Scarlett McNess, Marshall Peabody and Array Benedict; 6-7 year olds were Addilynn Brummette, Norah McNees and Maizie Benedict; 8-9 year olds were Avery Brown, Lucas Coffman and Preston Benedict;10-12 year olds were Gage Steele, Wesley Brummette and Camden Carpenter; 13-17 year olds were Rachel Jones, Liliana Jones and Brian Schultz and the newest class of 18 years old and up were Gerald Jones, Joseph Benedict and Brian Benedict. Each winning child under 12 received a trophy. The grand marshal reception honoring Kevin & Lesia Brummette concluded the evening’s honors with a tribute presented by Representative Gina Johnsen, stories, cake and punch.
On Saturday, the Grand Parade kicked off at noon, themed “America 250! Red, White Remember” and honoring Grand Marshal Kevin & Lesia Brummette. Eaton County Sheriff Officer Keast followed two fire trucks from the Sunfield Fire District, the Daughter’s of Union Veterans of the Civil War float presented America’s colors. Floats included the 2026 Prince Brooks Cole and Princess Sophia Cole and their royal court, the Vermontville Maple Syrup Festival Queen McKenzie Soper and her royal court Aubree Roth and Kiylee Kirbyu, Sunfield District Library’s summer reading program “Sunfield Jurassic Games” float, Sunfield Historical Society King & Queen Ken Lyons & Claryce Sayer and Klotz Family Farms. The Lakewood Marching Band was present and sounded great. There were dozens of antique cars, trucks and antique tractors and fire engines from Campbell Township, Woodland Twp., Roxand Twp., City of Olivet/Walton Twp., Portland Area and Vermontville Twp. Fire Departments. Children lining the Village streets scooped up lots of candy.
The seventh Classic Car, Truck, Tractor & Bike Show organized by Paul & Linda Campbell and the Charlotte Cruisers took place on Main Street with 118 registered vehicles on display with 21 veterans using their free admission and 12 lady-owned vehicles. It was the biggest and best show to date. Doughnuts, coffee and water were available for a donation which was then donated to the Charlotte VFW and the Sunfield Fireman’s Auxiliary. Trophies were designed and made by Ron & Teresa Kruger of Sunfield. The New Sunfield Chamber of Commerce awarded Darwin Kosbar, from Hastings, the Sunfield Chamber Choice Award for his 1959 Edsel Corsair. Original Truck award went to Keith Atherton, Nashville, 1978 Ford F 150; Best Rat Rod award went to Brandon Floyd, Vermontville, 1977 Pontiac Firebird; Best Tractor award went to Dustin & Leslie Cook, Vermontville, 1953 John Deere; Original Car award went to Dan Vandemooretel, Ionia, 1964 Chevy Nova and the Original Patina award went to Tony Jackson, Lake Odessa, 1933 Ford Pickup.
The ninth annual Dylan Kemp Home Run Derby had 17 entries. First place went to Aden DeGraaf with Chaz Arizola taking second place. Aden’s stepdad became the MVP of the men’s softball tournament so that was a sweet moment for them, said Craig Cappon. The annual William Bosworth Memorial Horseshoe Doubles Tournament winners were Gina and Buddy Sutliff in 1st; Janice Nash and Matt Koch in 2nd and Ken Grooten and Ellis Conley took 3rd place. In the eleventh annual float decorating contest, there were two entries. The Sunfield Historical Society “Our King & Queen” float took first place followed by the Sunfield District Library Reading Program “Sunfield Jurassic Games” float.
The Sunfield Sponsors of Programs for Youth (SPY’s) Dime Pitch booth, Daughters of the Union Veterans Lava Floor and Pluck-a-Duck Pond, Disc Drop game sponsored by Gizzy Downing and Mason Rail Time Adventures provided games and rides for children of all ages as well as BINGO for the adults provided by the Portland Area Service Group. Ming the Magician entertained children of all ages under the Big Tent. Marbles The Clown created balloon animals for the children. Twenty crafters and/or independent vendors gave the attendees plenty to peruse and nine food vendors including Joe’s Gizzard Wagon, Lakewood Youth Wrestling Club, the Sunfield United Methodist Mint, Mitten Made Lemonade, Sugar Babies Cotton Candy, Front Yard BBQ and Mobile Family Concession including the annual Sebewa Church of God Pancake Breakfast and Ox Roast, sponsored by the Sunfield Farmers Picnic, took care of everyone’s enjoyment needs.
The twelfth annual Sunfield Farmers Picnic & Roundhead Cornhole Tournament got underway at 9 a.m. Tier 1 winners: 1st - Marshall Kiester & Tyler Stratton, 2nd - Adam Rairigh & Tom Smith and 3rd - Caden Byrum & Brady Payne. Tier 2 winners: 1st - Dana Stott & Charlie Scavardac, 2nd - Bryce Schelter & Drake Mitchell and 3rd - Timmy Hubert & Dayton VanderMoere. The Open Class Craft exhibit awarded 6 Best of Show ribbons to Lance Eldridge for his photographs “Brit Arrows planes” and “Fireworks over a cargo plane”, DeAnna Clark for her photograph of "Fred" (blue heron), Deb Ostertag for her nature photograph of a Butterfly on a Leaf, Lori Wortley for her Glowing Meadow painting and Nancy Harms for her craft “Birch Island”. There were 70 items exhibited by 37 participants with 13 being first time participants. The youngest exhibitor was 6 up through 84 years of age. Photography was judged in 4 categories: People, Animals, Nature and Other. Other category entries included woodworking, flowers, baked goods, canned goods, art, craft, painting, crocheting, sewing, paper craft, metal craft, needlework, kid’s crafts and vendor entries.
The Frog Jumping Contest had two categories this year, those that collected and brought their own frog and those that used frogs from the communities’ bucket that were collected by Stephanie Brummette. There were 21 children participating; 10 children brought their own frog. Maverick Hough and Josey Milbourne had the smallest frogs and Dean Kelly had the largest frog. The Best Named frog was chosen by the Grand Marshals Kevin and Lesia Brummette and awarded to Levi Shattuck for “Pickles”. Winners for those who brought their own frogs included Connor Best with a total of 135.5 inches jumped by his frog; Colton Best at 133.5 inches and Dean Kelly at 120.5 inches. Winners for those who borrowed frogs from the community collection included Brantley Coates with a total of 87 inches jumped by his frog, Bubba Bretinger at 78 inches and Brynnlee Meniez at 74 inches.
Clark Lewis, Juggling Stunt Show, entertained the festival attendees with his juggling, chair balancing, unicycle riding and chainsaw juggling while the line grew for the beloved Ox Roast sandwiches which sold out quickly. The Sunfield Farmers Picnic Merchants Raffle third place prize of a pair of adirondack chairs donated by Polly Products in Mulliken was won by Eric & Brittni Brummette, second place prize of an overnight stay for two at one of Bill Rogers accommodations in Lake Odessa, MI was won by Angie Coan and Mapes Furniture donated a beautiful recliner/rocker that was won by Melanie Hansen. There were additional prize packages that were awarded throughout the concert of the Garage Sale Band who sang and entertained the audience for nearly two and a half hours. The evening closed out with the playing of the National Anthem and 7.5 minutes of non-stop kick-butt pyro by Pyrotecnico.
This was the 55th Annual SPYs Softball Tournament with four men’s teams which played round robin, then single elimination. Although ten co-ed teams signed up, the co-ed games were canceled due to field conditions. Most Valuable Player was awarded to Devin Eberly. The Men’s Tournament game winner was Best Tax and second place was Premier Graphics.
There were many volunteers in addition to the members of the Board that helped make this event a memorable one but additional committed individuals would help make lighter work for this successful community event. Please contact the Board at sunfieldfarmerspicnic@gmail.com to offer any future assistance, ideas or to find out more about the event scheduled for August 20-22, 2027. Visit the Sunfield Farmers Picnic Inc Facebook page to see ALL the photos.
Photo 1: Prince Brooks Cole, Princess Sophia Cole and 2025 Princess Aurora McDiarmid (photo provided by DeAnna Clark)
Photo 2: Grand Marshals Lesia and Kevin Brummette (photo provided by DeAnna Clark)
Photo 3: Sunfield Historical Society Float Ken Lyons & Claryce Sayer (photo provided by Bonnie Foltz)
Photo 4: The new Sunfield Chamber of Commerce awarded Darwin Kosbar of Hastings for his 1959 Edsel Corsair the Sunfield Chamber Choice Award (photo provided by Linda Campbell)
Photo 5: Best of Show ribbons awarded to Lance Eldridge for "Brit Arrows planes" & "Fireworks over cargo plane" photographs, DeAnna Clark for "Fred" photograph, Deb Ostertag for "Butterfly on Leaf" photograph, Lori Wortley for "Glowing Meadow" painting and Nancy Harms for her craft of "Birch Island". (photo provided by DeAnna Clark)
Photo 6: Frog Jumping Contest Winners: Brantley Coates, Bubba Bretinger, Brynnlee Meniez, Dean Kelly, Colton Best, Connor Best, Josey Milbourne & Maverick Hough (photo provided by DeAnna Clark)
Photo 7: Clark Lewis, Juggling Stunt Show Man balancing eleven folding chairs on his chin (photo provided by DeAnna Clark)
Photo 8: Most Valuable Player Devin Eberly (photo provided by Shana Cappon)
Photo 9: Fireworks by Pyrotecnico (photo provided by DeAnna Clark)
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