Christian Village Fall Festival brings fun and smiles all around

[October 05, 2017]   LINCOLN - On Friday evening, the Christian Village in Lincoln hosted its annual Fall Festival Celebration. This year, the event was held in front of the Woods Foundation Villa Garden, and in the parking lot next to the facility.

The evening began at 5 p.m. and wrapped up at 7 p.m. Right away, the festival was well attended with families coming out to enjoy an ideal fall evening accented with fun activities for everyone.

Quick tempo familiar tunes were being played by live musicians and set the tone for everyone, bringing smiles and a few wiggles and jiggles as attendees got into the music.

A dunk tank was a popular event with kids lining up to hit the target and watch the victim splash into the chilly water.

To warm up the night, retired Lincoln Assistant Fire Chief Steve Dahmm was cooking up pork chops and they were being bought almost as quickly as he could grill them. The sandwich came with a bag of chips and drink and home baked sweets were also available.

Vendors were happily visiting with shoppers, and offered a wide variety of items from well known home-based business brands such as Scentsy, to hand crafted item like lambs made from quart jars, and lots of fall wreaths and other indoor and outdoor fall decorations.

The highlight of the evening was the kiddie tractor pull. Kids began signing up for the event as soon as the festival opened, and at 6 p.m. they all had the opportunity to peddle a toy tractor as far as they could while a mini-sled worked mechanically to slow them down.

The kiddie pull was provided by the Farm Bureau Young Leaders Group, with Abby Coers from that organization monitoring the proceedings.

The event was divided into three weight categories, with a total of 18 youngsters competing. In the end, it was a girls take-all competition as River won first place in the 0-45 pound class, Emma took first in the 46 – 64 pound class, and Gracie was the winner in the 65 to 100 pound class. Second place winners were Carson, Brantley, and Broxton, and third place winners were Aiden, Ben, and Reyli.

Kids were also invited to participate in a pumpkin painting activity and an inflatable bounce house was a very popular attraction. The sweet spot at the festival would have to have been the cotton candy booth, where many were able to not only buy the fluffy treat, but also watch while their own cloud of sugar was being created.

Guests gathered at the tables set up for eating, or sat on the bales of straw scattered about.

All-in-all, it was a great evening.

[Nila Smith]