Boy Scouts, teenagers playing dodge ball, an Elvis impersonator, and barbecue chicken: these seemingly unrelated attractions are all part of the Shenendehowa United Methodist Church’s 50th annual country fair.
The fair will be held on Friday, Sept. 7 from 4-9 p.m., and Saturday, Sept. 8 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The Clifton Park church is on Route 146 across from the entrance to the Shenendehowa campus.
Parishioner Mary Predel is the fair chairwoman.
It’s the one and only big fellowship that we do with the entire church, Predel said. `Our motto this year is ‘Faith, fellowship, and fun.’`
Each day of the event will feature an auction. The first is a silent auction on Friday, in which donated items such as a three-hour limousine ride, tickets to a future event at the Times Union Center, and a getaway to Lake Placid will be auctioned off. Visitors will place open bids on a sheet of paper in front of the items, and the high bidder will be awarded at 8 p.m.
The second auction will be a traditional auction with a professional auctioneer on Saturday at 11 a.m. Parishioners have donated unwanted items throughout the year, which will be sold.
Other highlights of the two-day event, which raised $26,000 for the church last year, include a performance by an Elvis impersonator from 6-9 p.m. on Friday and a barbecue chicken dinner from 4-7 p.m., also on Friday night.
Dr. Kyle Osborn will on hand for two hours each day to answer health questions from local seniors.
Joan Van Patten, who has been chairwoman for the fair in the past, is responsible for public relations this year.
`I believe that it brings the people together,` Van Patten said. `This way, we’re all working together and you get to meet new people. It’s a good feeling for our church members.`
Boy Scouts Troop 45 will be at the event directing traffic and handing out the souvenir booklet to visitors. The troop will also stay overnight to help with security.
Scoutmaster David Getman said that between four and five adults and about 20 Boy Scouts participate.
`It’s a night out where we get to actually camp with electricity, that’s a rarity for us,` Getman said. `The scouts have a good time assisting the church and they get to meet people and kind of show off our gratitude for the church. It’s just one of those things that we like to do and we feel is our duty to do every year.`
Getman said the church provides meeting and storage space for the Troup.
Four local churches combined to found the church in 1957.
West Crescent, Grooms, Newtown, and Crescent Methodist all contributed to the $2,000 purchase of land and went on to raise more than $40,000 for the initial construction of the church.
`How many struggling churches got together and gave up their identity to build one big church?` Predel said. `This doesn’t happen very often.`
She also said that added motivation for her this year was the recent passing of parishioner Martha Lane, who died earlier this year at age 103. Lane came up with the idea for the fair 50 years ago, and still made blueberry muffins for the church well into her 80s.
`That’s one of the reasons I went back onto it, and getting a lot of our young parishioners involved in it that hadn’t been involved before,` Predel said. `I’ve been very excited about it.`
For information, call the church at 371-7964.
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