While they have not plied their talents on the farm or in the fields this past summer, a group of dedicated members in the community will still have quite the “harvest” to celebrate during Dowagiac’s Under the Harvest Moon Festival next month.

At 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 14, the city will host a ceremony dedicating the recently created downtown mural, which depicts the history making 1854 arrival of the country’s first Orphan Train, located on the wall beneath the Dowagiac Post Office on Pennsylvania Avenue. The ceremony will recognize project artist Ruth Andrews and the group of around 50 volunteers who poured their time and energy into painting the piece of public art over the last several months.

While the not related to autumn nor farming, the dedication will serve as the perfect capstone event for the city’s harvest festival, which will take place that Saturday, said City of Dowagiac employee Bobbie Jo Hartline, who is organizing the dedication ceremony.

Just like the work farmers pour into their crops every season, people from throughout the Dowagiac community have planted the seeds of the idea to create a downtown mural, nurtured it into fruition and worked tirelessly in the summer heat to bring it to life, Hartline said. Now, with only a few small tasks left before the mural is finally complete, those who have poured their effort into its creation are ready to reap the benefits.

“We will be celebrating the work we have done over the summer, and all the friends we have made in the process,” Hartline said.

Hartline is one of individuals who has spearheaded the creation of the Orphan Train mural, alongside Andrews, local resident Marty Kazar and Dowagiac Area History Museum Director Steve Arseneau. Last year, the committee began formulating the idea of honoring the historic arrival of the first Orphan Train in Dowagiac, and have worked with others in the community to make the project a reality.

Among those who have pitched in include a number of Dowagiac elementary students, who posed for photos used by Andrews to create depictions of some of the children featured in the mural, Hartline said.

Most of the assistance came during the painting process itself, which began in June. Volunteers from throughout the city pitched in to help, be they school students or retirees, or amateur artists or professional painters.

Most of the work on the painting wrapped up before the end of summer. Andrews is in the process of making some minor touch ups to the painting. After these alterations are finished, the committee will apply a sealant over top, which will help preserve the quality and vibrancy of the paint for years to come, Hartline said.

Even those who were not directly involved in creating the mural have embraced the project, she said. While Hartline was showing a group of visitors the mural several days ago, a person who had watched the mural get painted over the summer stepped in to explain the piece of art to the group before Hartline could, she said.

“That is their painting, in their community,” Hartline said. “That fact makes me really proud.”

Dowagiac Mayor Don Lyons will accept the mural on behalf of the city during the Oct. 14 dedication ceremony, Hartline said. She has invited several state legislators to attend the ceremony as well. A representative with the Michigan Humanities Council, which helped fund the mural project, may be in attendance as well.

The ceremony will be free and open to the public.

“It won’t be an event where a single artist takes the podium and says ‘this is what I created,’” Hartline said. “It will be an entire community saying ‘this is what WE created.’”