Sunny skies greeted patrons at the 2021 Strawberry Festival. Organizers have made plans for a larger tent this year to allow more seating in the shade.
Tom Russo | Daily Reporter
GREENFIELD – With a bigger tent reserved, more ingredients for shortcake bought, and a chosen date that coincides with other local events, Strawberry Festival organizers hope to build on last year’s event when the 38th festival opens Friday (June 10).
Bradley United Methodist Church will serve strawberries, shortcake, ice cream and live entertainment from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday in the lot the southwest corner of Main and Pennsylvania streets. The lot is south of, and across U.S. 40, from the church; the church address is 210 W. Main St.
Organizers say they baked about 1,300 shortcakes for the 2021 festival, which drew well even amid temperatures in the upper 80s — so well that organizers shut down walk-up serving for about an hour to ensure they’d be able to serve some 700 advance ticket buyers when they stopped by. This year festival planners are working to boost capacity, by preparing to serve 1,500.
Still, “We just really recommend that people buy their tickets in advance, and then they won’t have to be concerned,” said longtime church member Kathy Locke. “We’ll keep trying to serve all the way through.”
Locke is part of a committee of about 30 Bradley members who, working in smaller teams, cover various aspects of the festivities, from promotion, to cooking, to lining up entertainment, to cleanup. A church walking group carried fliers for the festival and canvassed downtown shops.
Last year was Bradley’s first year to present the downtown tradition. Men of First Presbyterian Church, which met nearby at 116 South St., launched the festival in 1984. Over the years it became a whole-church undertaking, and in its later years of presenting the festival First Presbyterian sought out community partners such as the local Tri Kappa sorority.
First Presbyterian passed the Strawberry Festival baton to Bradley in early 2020, but that year’s festival was canceled amid COVID. First Presbyterian closed in July of that year.
Yet the notes-filled folder First Presbyterian people passed along to Bradley, along with their accumulated years of insight into how to put on the event, have benefited the festival’s current organizers at Bradley, said another organizer, Julie Rogers.
“We just tweaked things,” Rogers said. “They kept great notes.”
Subtle changes have included making individual drop-biscuit-style shortcakes, in the hope those will stay fresh longer than shortcake sheets cut into rectangles, and arranging for a larger tent this year to allow more seating in the shade.
“Every year that we do it … we’ll try to tweak things to make it better,” Rogers said.
Locke said this year’s Strawberry Festival will coincide with other events in the area, such as downtown businesses open later for Second Fridays and Two Jasons in concert at Lizabuth Ann’s Kitchen behind the James Whitcomb Riley Boyhood Home and Museum.
“We’d like everybody to come out if they can,” Locke said. “There will be things to do where they could make an evening of it.”
The festival itself has entertainment onsite, including traditional favorite Larry Von Essen with his accordion.
Along with the shortcake and Von Essen’s accordion music, another festival tradition remains: The proceeds benefit local community organizations. Last year six non-profits received $1,300 each. This year eight have been chosen to benefit. The organizations know in advance and are able to help drive festival traffic by urging their supporters to patronize the festival.
Locke said festival leaders haven’t stipulated to organizations what they should use the proceeds for and imagined the money could bolster operating expenses after COVID. Debra Weber, executive director of Love INC of Greater Hancock County, said the money Love INC receives will indeed be used for general operating expenses. “Bradley UMC is a wonderful supporter of local ministries, and Love INC is blessed to be one of the recipients!” she said.
Jill Ebbert, executive director of Kenneth Butler Memorial Soup Kitchen, said since the pandemic began, Bradley has actively helped support the purchase of carry-out containers for patrons’ meals.
“The Strawberry Festival is yet another way they continue to support our operating budget,” Ebbert said. “The proceeds from the event will be used to purchase these necessary items.”
Andrea Mallory, executive director of Hope House, said the homeless shelter is grateful to local churches like Bradley and the festival money will help as Hope House looks to “increase our programming to increase our help,” she said.
“Thank you to such a wonderful community, and we definitely need everyone’s help to change lives one day at a time.”
