Anyone with a sweet tooth will want to attend the Oxford United Methodist Women's sixth annual Chocolate Festival set for Saturday, March 2, from 1 to 3 p.m. The event will take place at the Oxford United Methodist Church (OUMC), located at 18 Addison St., Oxford.
The Chocolate Festival has become a popular event with chocolate lovers who appreciate the wide variety of options they find among the tables of baked goods and candies.
"It's a family-friendly event. We just want everybody to come out and have a good time," committee member Patsy Reese said. "It's just a wonderful event to me; it's a happy event."
For a fee, visitors will receive six tickets. Each ticket will allow the person to select an item from the wide variety of chocolate treats. If six is not enough, additional tickets may be purchased for a nominal fee.
In a change from past years, attendees are no longer permitted to bring their own containers from home. Containers will be provided at the entrance.
Other features of the day will include a Kids' Cookie Corner, where youngsters can decorate their own cookies, and candy jar contests, where visitors will be challenged to guess the number of candies in each jar.
The Chocolate Festival is also popular with local community members who enter the competition with their best chocolate creations. Each entry must include chocolate as one ingredient. Categories to be judged are cakes/cupcakes, cookies, candy/fudge, brownies and other desserts. There is also a children's category for bakers age 16 and under.
"People of all ages can participate in the baking," said Reese, who is happy to see young entrants. "Because there was a good response we're having (the children's competition) again. We're hoping more kids will join in the fun," she said.
All entrants are asked to bring a complete batch of their favorite chocolate creation in a disposable container to the church fellowship hall between 8:30 and 10 a.m. on the day of the event. A complete batch is considered to be a whole cake, 18 cupcakes, 36 cookies or an entire batch of candy. No freezer items will be accepted, as they could melt prior to serving. There is no fee to enter, and there is no limit on the number of entries per person.
"We always have cakes and cupcakes - everybody has their specialty. The 'other desserts' is probably our smallest category," Reese noted.
Judging will start promptly at 10 a.m. After judging is complete, volunteers will prepare separate servings that will be arranged on tables for ticket holders to select.
At 2 p.m., ribbons will be awarded for first, second and third places, as well as honorable mention, in each category. A special prize basket will go to the entry determined to be Best in Show. The winner of that top award will also be invited to be one of the judges for next year's event.
Proceeds from the Chocolate Festival will go to the Oxford United Methodist Women. The group distributes money to many different missions throughout the year, locally and around the world wherever there are needs.
OUMC is located at the corner of Market and Addison streets in Oxford. For more information, readers may call the church office at 610-932-9698, visit http://www.oxford1851.org or search for "Oxford UM Church - Pennsylvania" on Facebook and choose "Events."
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