In the past, hundreds of community members have shown up to support a local family through tough times with the Fantastic Fall Festival. Now, after a one-year break, the festival is back and will not disappoint with raffles, fair food and of course, a cow.
The Fantastic Fall Festival to benefit Derek Murphy, a 14-year-old living with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD), is back for the third time. The festival will be held Saturday, Oct. 3, from noon to 5 p.m. at Ganser Smith Park, at 53 Menands Road in the Village of Menands.
In its third year, the festival will be bigger than it has been in the past, although community favorites, like the cow plop contest, or “cow grazing bingo,” and the corn hole tournament will be back.
Usually 200 or 300 people attend, and lead event organizer Lynda Long said they’re hoping to get more this year. Vendors pay $25 for a table, proceeds from which go toward benefitting Derek Murphy. Vendors keep the money they make on sales, although some donate back toward helping Derek.
“It covers ongoing medical costs, that kind of thing,” said Long.
Derek was diagnosed with DMD at two years old. DMD is a neuromuscular disease the causes muscle degeneration and weakness in the legs and pelvis. Currently with no cure, it largely affects boys. Oftentimes, by the time a DMD patient reaches puberty, a wheelchair becomes necessary.
“Derek was ambulatory until he was 9 years old,” said his mother, Sue Ellen Murphy, in a written biography for the Fall Festival. He now uses a specialized wheelchair and his service dog, Matrix, to help him get around on his own.
Derek attends Columbia High School in East Greenbush. His father, John Murphy, is a police officer for the Village of Menands.
The funds from the festival help the Murphy family with medical costs not covered by insurance. Sue Ellen Murphy has said getting a financial aid through insurance can be difficult, as some companies don’t understand the needs associated with DMD.
The community has held other events to help the Murphy family with medical costs, and raise money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Several charity softball games have been held to help the family and association over the past five years.
Long, a family friend, teamed up with them to come up with the festival. “We just came up with this idea, and each year it raised more and more money and got bigger,” she said.
Almost everything at the festival, like food, is donated. There will be hamburgers, hotdogs, salads and sausages for sale, along with hot cocoa, snow cones and popcorn. Bands comprised of Derek’s peers and family will play for free. Joe Condon, broadcaster on the B95.5 radio channel, will be the emcee of the event.
There will be a mac and cheese bar and deep fried Oreo vendor. One table will be selling garage sale-like items, and a vendor will sell Thirty-One bags with giftware. In addition, there will be an art photo table and jewelry vendors, along with various others.
Several raffles will be held, including one for hand-painted rocking chairs and others for over $1,000 in gift cards to businesses around the Capital District. There will be two larger raffles. One is for a driveway sealing from the Watervliet-based company Harbour Roads. The other is for an Apple Watch donated for the event.
New to this year will be an additional two-story bounce house, along with a smaller one for young children, and at least ten more children’s games to keep the small ones entertained, according to Long.
And the Fall Festival would not be same without its main event—the cow plop contest, which will return with a $300 prize.
“We did it at my hometown,” said Long. “When the cow comes in, all the people start lining up. That’s our main draw.”
The premise, said Long, is that festival-goers buy a square on a white grid laid out in the park’s field for $10. A person can purchase however many squares they want. A cow is then brought in from a local farm.
“Then the cow does his business in whatever square and that person wins the prize,” Long said. If the “plop” ends up falling between two squares owned by different people, the prize is split down the middle.
“We’re going over and above what we’ve had in year’s past,” Long said.
The Fantastic Fall Festival is free to get in. To purchase tickets for the cow plop, various raffles or for more information, visit their Facebook page.
