By Stephen Smoot
Despite the ominous forecasts and occasional appearance of threatening gray clouds, the community kept the faith Friday night and streamed in to support the South Fork Volunteer Fire Department.
Though opening night serves as the hors d’oeuvres to the Saturday lineup of events, including the parade and fireworks show, the hundreds who streamed in had much to enjoy.
Generations enjoy the family friendly community atmosphere where adults and children alike can gather for games and prizes. Children could jump in the bounce house or play games such as duck pond or beanbag toss. Nearby, under the pavilion, bingo started at about 5:45 with karaoke later on.
Some came from hundreds of miles away, but Greg Hoover only had to come a few miles from his home up the road. Along with his mother, Lorena, he sampled some of the long list of foods prepared for the weekend.
“It’s a good turnout,” Hoover stated, explaining that he has been coming “ever since I was a little kid. I was probably about six or seven when I started coming to it.”
Lorena Hoover added that “we moved down in this area in ’78. We’ve been coming ever since.”
Greg Hoover remembered his first lawn party vividly, sharing that “the first one, I won a whole bunch of little prizes, toys to take home and play with. They had games you’d play and take home prizes.”
Those games remain an important part of the tradition of the lawn party. Nearby, volunteer firemen manned a small bullpen where they set up towers of glasses on a table. Anyone who could deftly deliver a dime about six feet into a glass could keep it.
Concessions offered a full menu of delicious options, including barbecue sandwiches, hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken fillet sandwiches, and more. Around back, however, was the dessert section. From these windows, one could buy 17 types of pies, including blueberry, peach, butterscotch, strawberry rhubarb, and pecan. They also had 26 different types of cakes to try, including German chocolate, Hawaiian wedding, hickory nut, carrot, Arnold Fletcher cake, and many more.
Every cake and pie came from a supporter’s kitchen, donated to help raise funds for the fire department.
For four decades, the lawn party has served double duty. It provides a place for the South Fork communities to come together and celebrate, but also serves as an important fundraiser for the firemen.
As Nila Bland explains, the lawn party has a long and successful history. It started when the auxiliary “decided that a lawn party would be a good fundraiser.” Originally, the lawn party took place around what is now Roy Bowers garage, then the fire house. Bland remembered that the party took place on the campus of Brandywine Elementary School. Those organizing and helping had to carry materials out Friday afternoon, then back Friday night. Then they did it all again on Saturday.
She also remembered that 25 and 30 years ago, family and friends would stay on the grounds past 11 p.m., sometimes till midnight, laughing, telling stories, and socializing. Many families and even graduation classes use the lawn party as “a reunion type of thing,” scheduling their gatherings around the festivities of the lawn party because “they don’t always get to see each other.”
“Saturday is our biggest night,” Bland says, explaining that “the fireworks are the big draw.”
Although storms threatened the area on Saturday, a mid summer sun shone through blue skies to provide a parade perfect day. Children of all ages lined the streets to watch the procession of community fun roll by.
While the lawn party has a practical mission to raise funds to support the firemen, it brings a much broader impact because it brings people together and reminds them of home and times gone past.
As Bland says about those who come and reforge connection to community, “people are friends and they’re family, blood or not.”
