ACC Fall Festival 2013

A week ago our church had its annual Fall Festival.  The Festival includes a chili supper, a pumpkin carving contest, and a silent auction.  Money raised from the silent auction goes to help support our church's children's ministries programs.  I want to give a shout out to a few people who helped me a LOT to prepare, gather items, set-up, and tear-down, and make possible another successful silent auction... THANK YOU ~ Eric Hendrickson, Charles and Wyonna Hastings, Ras and Nancy Reyes, Amy and Terry Harper, Jensen Family, Jonathan and Christy Newland, Carol Ball, Cindy Williams, Elaine White, John and Mary King, and Nathan King.  And, to all of those who donated items... THANK YOU! 

We had LOTS of great items at the silent auction again this year.... several handmade wooden items from Hastings Woodworking, hair flower clips and headbands, reusable plastic sack baskets,

Thirty~One bags, china dishes, crocheting and knitting themed baskets,

handmade Raggedy Anne and Andy dolls, an autographed picture from Casting Crowns,

jewelry from the Rusted Chain,

a Jim Shore nativity scene, handmade scrapbooks, a Fall floral arrangement, handmade hats and scarves,

homemade bread, cinnamon rolls, oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, and salsa, and an autographed cookbook from Ree Drummond - The Pioneer Woman, 

a couple autographed pictures of Kansas City Chiefs players, tools, fishing equipment, a cooler filled with goodies, an old Coca~Cola vending machine,

Fall and Christmas themed baskets, baking baskets, pink themed baskets, movie night baskets, and a school supply basket, and lots of gift cards and certificates to local restaurants, zoos, museums, and shows in Branson.

My parents were here to help us out and so that Popee could team up for the third year in a row and carve a pumpkin with Sarah in the pumpkin carving contest.  (Sarah and my Dad look forward to this each year.  They plan out their carving design, have secrets about their pumpkin, and make a great team carving out memories with each other!)

We had a great Town Crier this year!  His job was to keep all of the Fall Festival guests aware of what was going on, where things were happening and when things were happening.

Phoebe and Daddy teamed up again for the third year.  They had a special carving plan in mind this year...

Sarah was very interested in seeing how Phoebe's pumpkin would look, (checking out her competition).

And, here is Phoebe and Daddy's pumpkin... the Cross~Eyed Pumpkin.

It had a cross nose, cross eyes and the word SHINE for its mouth.  On the back was carved, 4 JESUS.

Sarah and Popee's pumpkin took a lot of cutting around and around....  As Popee started cutting their pumpkin into circles, he said everyone just stared at them, trying to figure out why he was cutting their pumpkin the way he was... What did this team have up their sleeves for this orange pumpkin???

Next Sarah started cutting...

Then a little more discussion, figuring, and planning...

And, the end result was a mummy pumpkin!

It was a fun evening!  The silent auction raised approximately $2578!  This is more than the previous two years!  Thank you again to all who helped make this a successful silent auction.