×

Fun Fest leads to year-round ministry

Event features games, fun, food

What was born as an end-of-the-summer festival has grown into a year-round ministry at Altoona Alliance Church.

Last August, the church held its first Summer Fun Fest as a way to provide a day of fun activities for children and adults in the community. It was an overwhelming success, according to Lex Hock and Aliah Perretta, coordinators, along with Wayne Hock, of the new Fun Fest Ministry.

Perretta said the team who put the first event together never dreamed it would turn out the way it did.

“It was completely in God’s hands — 110 percent,” she said.

“Everything fell together,” Lex Hock said. “We had an outpouring of support and our need for volunteers came together.”

Even the vendors noticed the atmosphere was different, she said.

“It was a bond and unity that felt different (for them) than before,” Lex Hock said.

An estimated 500 to 700 people attended the first event, and Wayne Hock received a lot of positive feedback from businesses and vendors who supported it and wanted to participate again.

“People asked if we were doing it again this year. There was an excitement about it,” Perretta said.

“Families with kids had a great time and hoped it would be an annual event,” Lex Hock said.

Realizing that the outreach, organized by the church’s Small Families with Children group last year, received support beyond their expectations, the three coordinators began to see it in a different light and desired to find other ways to serve the community.

“The vision changed,” said Lex Hock.

“We felt compelled to branch out and make it our own ministry,” Perretta said.

After receiving unanimous approval from the Altoona Alliance Church board earlier this year, Fun Fest Ministry was launched.

“The three of us took it and ran with it,” Lex Hock said.

While other outreaches are being planned, the first event under the new ministry will be the second annual Summer Fun Fest. It will be held from noon to 5 p.m. Aug. 11 at the Altoona Alliance Church, 3220 Pleasant Valley Blvd., and its parking lot. The church is next to Planet Fitness.

Participants are invited to visit the 26 vendors who will offer information on their services or display and sell their products at the event.

But before they mingle, guests should stop at the welcome table where they will receive a ticket for the basket raffle in their goodie bag. They will also receive a card featuring the name of 10 vendors. By visiting each of the vendors on their card, guests will receive three more tickets for the basket raffle. Perretta explained that different cards have the names of different vendors, giving all of them more opportunities to meet with guests and to speak about their services.

Among the vendors will be Heaven Scent Search and Rescue with its bloodhounds giving a presentation and Newburg Fire Company’s purple fire truck, which is used to raise awareness of domestic violence. New this year will be a booth sponsored by Regenerate, a group combatting human sex trafficking.

The family-oriented event will feature activities for kids, including face-painting, inflatables and

3-D archery. The Curve Gospel Riders will give kids, who get a waiver signed by a parent, rides in the parking lot on a purple motorcycle.

Music will be provided by Rev FM, which will broadcast live during the five-hour event. The Toontown Klowns will entertain, and the RLH Wood Sculptures artist will carve works on site. Kids and adults alike can have fun posing for pictures at the photo booth, sponsored by Provine studios.

Attendees can challenge their skills at the Minute to Win It contest or demonstrate their abilities and God-given gifts at the talent show.

“We want guests to interact,” said Lex Hock. “We want them to laugh and to have fun. That’s the whole point.”

A lunch/dinner menu will be served throughout the day with free meals for children under age 12 whose families register at the welcome table. Additional children’s meals are $1 and adult meals are $4. Lex Hock said extending the kitchen hours provides an opportunity for families coming later in the day to grab a quick evening meal.

For people with spiritual needs, a prayer tent will be available. Lex Hock said it is a place where people can come and feel safe about seeking prayer without judgment.

In all of its endeavors, the Fun Fest Ministry’s priority is to spread God’s love.

Its information card reads in part: “We are called to love … accept one another, carry one another’s burdens, serve one another in love.”

On Thanksgiving, the ministry is planning to do that with its second outreach — a free Thanksgiving dinner to be served from 3 to 7 p.m.

Nov. 22, Perretta said.

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
   

Starting at $4.39/week.

Subscribe Today