For years, GEARS in Elizabethtown has held a festival to celebrate the autumn season and provide fun for the community. Last year's event was canceled due to the pandemic, but now the 11th annual Fall Festival will be held on Saturday, Oct. 23, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Elizabethtown Fairgrounds, 900 E. High St.
"We're going to have something for all age ranges, from children to adults and seniors," said Lee Eckert, program coordinator for GEARS. "We'll have multiple inflatables and bounce houses for the kids and live music for the adults to enjoy."
Additional activities will include pumpkin painting, a soccer kick and a pumpkin miniature golf course. "Students from Elizabethtown Area Middle School will be running yard games for kids," Eckert noted. "We'll also have hayrides and barrel train rides." The Elizabethtown Fire Department will be on site with several fire trucks, and a variety of vendors will sell food and crafts. Students from the Mini-THON club at Elizabethtown Area Middle School and High School will volunteer during the event.
The Elizabethtown College wrestling team will run a haunted barn attraction, and the college's Activity Fun Fair will feature a wide range of activities as well. "The theme of the fun fair is 'Blooming Into the Streets,'" said Karen Eberly, senior program coordinator for GEARS. "The students do the fun fair as a way of giving back to the public and providing community service, and for the past several years, we've combined our Fall Festival with their event and done them together."
Food options at the festival will include Auntie Anne's pretzels, Savory's Pumpkin Funnel Cakes and the What's For Supper food truck. "The Elizabethtown Area Senior Center will also be selling traditional concession stand food like hamburgers," Eckert stated.
Eberly remarked that the event has evolved over the years from its original concept as a walk-through haunted attraction in a local park to a haunted fairgrounds before becoming the Fall Festival. "It got to the point where what we were doing was almost too scary," she explained. "We decided to change it up and make it a more family-friendly event."
She emphasized her appreciation for the event's sponsor, T-Mobile, as well as the Elizabethtown Area School District for allowing use of the fairgrounds.
"The Fall Festival is a really fun day," she said. "We're going to have tons of activities and something for everyone's budget. You can participate in the events that have a fee, or you can come and not spend a dollar."
For more information on the Fall Festival, visit http://www.getintogears.org or call 717-367-0355.
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