Visitors to the annual Country-A-Fair and Storytelling Festival on September 28 had a warm, beautiful day to enjoy Schererville’s Redar Park.
“It’s just a great event for families to come on out,” said Amanda Ladd, recreation coordinator for Schererville Parks and Recreation Department. “We get fall kicked off on the right food and promote people being in the parks.”
Ladd said the one day event, sponsored by the Schererville Parks and Recreation Department, featured musical entertainment, storytelling with the Northwest Indiana Storytelling Guild, craft and food vendors, children’s activities including a petting zoo, a paper airplane contest, and a lot of non-profit organizations.
The Schererville Central Lions Club was one of those participating non-profit organizations. At their tent, a group of volunteers helped to raise awareness and money for JDRF (formerly known as the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation).
“We get donations for baskets from shops and stores every year,” said Paul Miecznikowski, first vice president of the club. “At Hidden Lake tomorrow, we’ll be at the walk for diabetes raffling off our baskets. At the end of the night, we’ll pick the winners. All proceeds for the baskets go to the JDRF--100 percent.”
Another organization, TRUTH (Teens Responsibly Unite To Help), used the event as an opportunity to raise awareness about bullying. TRUTH Founder Bailey Perez said she created the organization based on her own high school experience.
“I really didn’t have the greatest freshman year. There was a lot of bullying happening,” Perez said. “I thought about how many people go through this. So I decided to make my own organization where kids in Northwest Indiana can come and talk.”
“We’re here to help anybody who needs information,” said Blaine O’Neill, chairman of the board for TRUTH.
Carol Bloom came out to support her stepdaughter who was working at the TRUTH tent.
“I’ve never been here before,” said Bloom of Redar Park. “And it’s beautiful.”