Members of two churches in the East Wheeling neighborhood have partnered to plan the upcoming second annual Fall Festival scheduled for September 24 on the campus of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston.
Along with craft vendors, Fall Mums, and artisan gift selections, the event will feature several food and beverage vendors from the Wheeling area. Members of the Macedonia Baptist Church and the Cathedral of St. Joseph’s have been planning the vent since last year’s inaugural event.
“I believe that our first community festival last year was a tremendous success,” insisted Tyler Greenwood, a pastoral associate with St. Joseph’s. “There was great spirit of community and enjoyment among people which definitely laid the foundation to make this an annual event.
“We are so fortunate to have some great festivals and events in the local area so we had to choose wisely a date that would work without too many conflicts,” he said. “We had a great crowd of people last year, but we are hoping that by having it later in the month and by expanding with more local vendors and other activities, we will have even more people participate.”
Last year’s event was limited to a few food vendors and a couple of bounce houses, but new this year is the partnership with the membership of the Macedonia Baptist Church.
We are just thrilled to be partnering with our neighbors at Macedonia Baptist Church for this festival. Pastor Marshall Davis and his wife Twila have been very helpful in the planning process and they have a lot of great ideas to make this festival a fun-filled day for people of all ages and interests,” Greenwood explained. “In addition, the inspiration in making this a fall festival brings with it plenty of new opportunities – we have a bunch of various craft and artisan vendors who are participating this year.
“Several talented local chefs and businesses will be serving some delicious food. We’ll have apple cider, beer and wine, as well as a coffee cart throughout the event. The family fun zone will have games, inflatables, and face painting,” he explained. “There will even be a pumpkin patch where you can pick your own pumpkins to paint and take home. For those who are interested, guided tours of our beautiful Cathedral church will be available throughout the day as well.
Entertainment also has been added for this year.
“We’ll have a DJ provide music for the first half of the festival,” Greenwood revealed. “That will be followed by the very popular band Eli and the Mojo Kings who will be playing live from 4 to 7pm.”
The money raised, Greenwood said, simply will go to each church to continue reaching out to individuals in the Wheeling area.
“Proceeds will benefit our individual churches to help carry on our mission of serving the local community and bringing people closer to God, which is, without a doubt, our shared common goal,” Greenwood said. “Our Community Fall Festival will be an opportunity for people to come together, enjoy the beginning of the season, and build a stronger sense of community. This is going to be great day filled with fun, food, and festivities.”
