Rotary Fall Fest Hosted Nearly 400 Despite a Gloomy Forecast
By Susan Stone
After the postponement of the original Fall Fest date on September 23rd for a full month due to a forecasted tropical storm, Pawling Rotary‘s rescheduled event on October 21st was cheerfully well-attended despite the cloudy and rainy weather. Although several of the planned activities could not take place due to predicted rain, the Rotary folks moved most of the other doings inside the Lathrop building, and almost 400 community members showed their support. Happiness, laughter, music and fun ensued.
In spite of the on-and-off-again rain, the kids had a ball painting pumpkins and specially designed Fest T-shirts, which they then took home with them as souvenirs of a joyful afternoon spent with parents, siblings, terrific face painters, bunnies, goats, and a mini pony. Great BBQ and lots of indoor games, made possible by event partner Pawling Recreation, kept little ones busy and entertained. Meanwhile, in between raindrops, children enjoyed the hay maze, built by Pawling’s Boy Scouts with hay amply donated by Eastern Hay. Kids and parents headed home after a full afternoon of rainy-day activities, with huge smiles, balloon animals in tow, and balloon hats on little and grown-up heads alike.
Of special note this year was the great live music with local popular artists brought together by new Rotary Enterprise member Madeo Multimedia. Among the lineup were solo artists David Powers, Christopher Brown, and Elly Winninger.
Cloverbrook Farm brought their sweetest little critters, available for up-close and personal contact, along with the cow who pooped right on schedule. The thousand-dollar Cow Chip Bingo prize went to Rosemary Baker from Ossining, New York!! Rotary will donate the proceeds from this event to organizations that support Pawling’s youngsters, and to Rotary International’s programs in support of children’s health initiatives.
Finally, Rotarians were grateful for the incredible fundraising support received from the Pawling business community, and for all the volunteers that made this event possible, most especially the teens from many groups including the Pawling library and Pawling middle and high schools. By giving of their time and energy, they made this Fall Fest a resounding success.
