Every year on the first Friday and Saturday of October, St. Mary’s Church in Hamburg hosts their yearly Harvest Fest. Consisting of music entertainment, games, bingo, themed basket raffles, and a special Polka Mass on Saturday. The music entertainment is provided by Flamin’ Dick & The Hotrods, Golden Tones Polka, and Northkill Creek Band. In addition to musical entertainment, they also had many fun activities for kids of all ages. Every year they have tons of games including a “Kiddie Korner” for the little ones. Some of the other games consist of basketball throw, paint ball, corn hole, tic tac toe, as well as many more. They also had bungee jumping, a rock wall, and a bouncy house. More activities for the whole family were things such as a hayride and corn maze.There were also pumpkins and gourds for sale just like the previous years.
For those who enjoy learning about race cars, the Reading Fairgrounds Racing Historical Society (RFRHS) was there with their mini museum. The RFRHS is a non-profit organization based around racing. Who goes to dirt tracks to advertise and sponsor events. They provide trophies for races at Shellhammers Speedway and show off a collection of old race cars for people to look at.
Sophomores Tia Adam and Jaden Ryan both attended Harvest Fest this year as well as other years. Tia went to Harvest Fest on Friday October 6, and she thought that it was “boring and unenjoyable,” mainly due to the fact that her best friend was not able to make it. She explained that her favorite part of Harvest Fest was actually the food. Although she did like putting tickets in the baskets, she unfortunately did not win. Jaden went on Saturday October 7, and he thought that the music and food was good and the maze was fun. However, he said overall it was “boring.” Ultimately, it seems that Harvest Fest is better enjoyed by younger kids with a group of friends that also attend, but the adults seem to enjoy the gathering very much, with or without people they know.