For the past few years, the Shenendehowa Rotary Club has held a road rally fundraiser. Drivers use geographical and historical clues to find their way along the road rally route, trying to meet mileage and time goals.
The rally has been a big success, but it also posed a dilemma, Rotary president Dave Tomney said. Since drivers reached the finish line at different times, early finishers were often left with little to do while they waited for everyone to complete the route.
So this year, the Rotary is combining the road rally with its inaugural Harvest Festival. Set for Saturday, Oct. 5, at Clifton Park Golf, 1759 Route 9, from noon to 5 p.m., the festival will offer crafts, food, music, pony rides and children’s activities.
We said, ‘What do we like to do in the fall?’ Tomney said, remembering how Rotary members were trying to come up with ways to entertain the drivers who were the first to complete the road rally. `We decided, why don’t we have a whole festival?`
In addition to offering fun for the whole family, the Harvest Fest will raise money for the Rotary Club, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary. Fred Droms established the local club in 1958, and today there are about 35 members, who take part in both local and international service projects.
`Whenever there’s an event, everyone gets involved,` said Mollie Kennedy, a co-chair for the Harvest Fest.
That spirit of cooperation was one of the things that attracted Kennedy to the club when she decided earlier this year that she wanted to get involved with some kind of service organization. She checked out the Rotary Club on the recommendation of a co-worker, and she quickly felt it was a good fit.
`I was just enamored by the people,` she said.
Tomney, too, felt a rapport with the members when he first attended a Rotary meeting about five years ago.
`It was a good group of people I met,` he said.
Members often suggest service projects based on their interests, Tomney said. Locally, the club has contributed to the Clifton Park-Halfmoon Library, awarded scholarships to high school seniors and given out dictionaries to third-grade students.
Outside the U.S., the club has helped provide water purification systems to villages in Honduras and sewing machines for young men and women in Zimbabwe.
The money that the club makes from the Harvest Fest is earmarked for programs to help children and teens in the Clifton Park/Halfmoon area — although it should be noted that admission to the festival is free. There will be a fee for the games, contests and food, and it’s $30 to take part in the road rally ($25 for early registration).
Tomney said that the club is hoping to raise at least a couple of thousand dollars, although `anything is good.`
Road rally participants will be eligible for a number of prizes, including the grand prize of a one-year family membership to the Southern Saratoga YMCA.
Kids, meanwhile, can win their own prizes at the carnival games, as well as enjoy a bounce house, face painting and miniature golf.
`We’re trying to make it a big community-oriented event,` Kennedy said. `It’s just going to be a really fun event.“
