Lehman Park to become zoo of activities on October 16
It will be a day filled with clowns, zoo animals, and aroma of fresh fall food on Oct. 16 when planners of this year's Lehman Park Fall Festival unveil the agenda of activities and foods.
One of the most exciting activities of last year, says Amy Orr, who is heading up the event, was the pie baking contest. That activity will be back in all of its fullness this year, complete with the opportunity to bake grandma's old-fashioned pie recipes and to purchase the goodies in a pie and baked goods auction.
"We will accept any donation of baked goods to auction off," said Orr. "Last year we did a raffle drawing. We are going to be doing that again this year. We will be selling tickets in advance; we are still in the process of getting donations. Last year we had over 70 donations."
Orr said that some of the largest items include various furniture pieces as well as cash prizes and gift certificates.
"We are so grateful for the generosity of local businesses to make this happen," said Orr. "We depend on the generosity of the community to make this happen.
"We try to spend as little money as possible," continued Orr. "What comes out of the pocket comes out of the pockets of volunteers."
Orr said that in recent years, park officials have had to remove equipment that is broken or is of no use. She noted that some of the playground equipment couldn't be fixed or was only partially in tact.
One of the special events this year will be a seasonal Sunday lunch that will be served at 12:30 p.m., to allow those in worship to have the time to come to the park. In the spirit of fall, the meal will offer brats, hot dogs, chili, nachos and a baked potato bar. In addition, there will be extra home made pies available to go with the meal.
"The hope is that after people get out of morning worship, they will come to the park to fellowship together in this community meal. It will also be a wonderful opportunity for them to support the park and its place in our community," said Orr. "It can be a wonderful way to gather together and visit with people and catch up on what is going on around the community."
Orr said that the hope is to draw people from different age groups, with opportunities for adults to fellowship and relax, children to play various games and teenagers and young people to get involved in competitive games.
At 3 p.m. there will be a home run derby contest. In addition, the South Adams Youth League will set up a speed pitching group.
"We want to have something for people of all ages," said Orr. "We invite people to get some snacks and come watch the home run derby contest.
"The festival will feature pony rides and a petting zoo," continued Orr. "If we get more sponsors, we would also like to include an inflatable ride. We would like to have a dunk tank or something similar."
The festival committee is also planning on an arts and crafts demonstration fair. Orr noted that any craft vendors are welcome to participate. In addition, there will also be arts and crafts for children's participation, including pumpkin decorating and face painting. Orr emphasized that clowns would be walking around and visiting with children.
"All money goes directly toward the Lehman Park Equipment Fund," said Orr. "Focus will be on restoration of park equipment and picnic areas.
"To replace anything is unbelievably expensive," continued Orr. "I have young children who like to play at the park. That's how I first saw that the park needed help. I asked what we could do to help this situation and a group of people decided to get together and organize this park festival."
Orr said that anyone who would like to donate to the park equipment fund can do so by addressing the donation to the City of Berne, for the Park Equipment Fund.
You need to be logged in to post comments on this article.
