By LISA HOOVER

MASSENA -- The Greater Massena Chamber of Commerce’s sixth annual harvest festival will be Sept. 7 this year, with multiple vendors, crafters, pony rides, face painting, and the new zucchini car races.

Main Street will be blocked off from Orvis to Andrews Streets to accommodate the festivities.

Crafters and vendors will set up with information and demonstrations. Kids can enjoy multiple activities, including pony rides, the zucchini races, pumpkin painting, a bounce house, and face painting. Another highlight will be a “life-sized” game of Candy Land, according to Penny Pullmain, associate director of the chamber. Kids can also decorate their own cupcakes.

The zucchini car races, new this year, will feature racecars made of real zucchini. Zucchinis must be self propelled, with the wheels attached directly to the zucchini, but the cars may be decorated in anyway. The races will begin at noon, with cars to be registered at the chamber booth beforehand. Trophies will be awarded to the fastest, slowest, most creative, and scariest cars.

The zucchini races were first proposed at a planning meeting. “[We] just came up with it at the committee that gets together” to determine festival events, said Pullmain. “That was something someone had seen” at another event, she said.

“Lots of organizations” will be set up to provide activities and share information, including the Boys and Girls Club, Pullmain said.

The chamber’s traditional food booth will be set up, and raffles will be held. The booth servers as a fundraiser for the chamber, according to Pullmain.

The event will also serve to kick off the “Create Jobs/Shop Local” campaign. The event will be admission free, although some vendors may charge, Pullmain said.

“Honestly, it started before I was at the chamber,” Pullmain said. “But it’s something for the fall” for families to visit. “It’s just a fun family thing,” she said.

“I am hoping mother nature behaves herself this year,” she said. Last year’s event was cut short early by tornado warnings and nasty weather, according to Pullmain.

“It’s just a fun family thing,” she said. “It seems to grow every year,” with more vendors and more activities.

Vendors will include WMSA, 2 Mama birds, 3-Day Walk for a Cure, Amo’s Country Barn, the Animal Food Pantry, B & G Sales, Back the Pack, Bee Art Shop, BK Cheeky Crafts, Boy Scouts Troop 41, the Boys and Girls Club, and Breezy Maple Farms.

Others will include Crafty Creations, Cubby-T Clown, Deb’s Do-Dads, Dee’s Crafts, Diane Bell, the chamber’s food booth, It Works Wraps, JoCi Jewels, Jumpin Fun Inflatables, Knights of Columbus Auxiliary, Let’s Go Fishin’, Life Size Candy Land Game, and Mary Romeo.

Also, Massena Farmer’s Market, Massena Mason’s child ID safety program, Massena Nursery School, Massena Public Library, Massena Rescue Squad, Massena Rotary Club, Massena Valley Garden Club, Massena Valley Garden Club, Massena’s varsity cheerleaders, Memory Keepers, Mimi’s Italian Cookies & More, Miss D’s Alpacas, MMH Community Coalition, New Testament Church, North Country Savings Bank, Pelican Peace Designs, and Relay for Life.