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Celebrating Autumn's Spirit

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By GEORGE H. NEWMAN, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 24, 2007

Updated: 10/16/2007 06:55 pm

PLANT CITY - Fall festival season is here.

Several church and charitable organizations have scheduled activities to celebrate the season or Halloween, when tradition encourages little goblins and ghosts, angels and pumpkin-heads to come out of hiding and enjoy the world's bounty.

The choices for fall or Halloween celebrations include a city pumpkin carving contest for kids, a haunted house and the Cork Knights of Screams 3, a special effects-filled fundraiser for a volunteer fire department. For specific events, dates and times, see the list in this special section of the Plant City Courier & Tribune.

A number of organizations get into the spirit each autumn.

Unity in the Community has an annual haunted house over four nights, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Oct. 31. Unity founder Joyce Jordan has an able gremlin assistant in Linda Furham, who has not only volunteered her time to help organize the event but also has volunteered her own 'haunted' house and 2 acres as the setting for the fun.

'Our goal is to give the families who attend a spooky good time,' Furham said. 'We have been working hard to make the house and grounds as scary as possible. People thought the place was haunted when I bought it five years ago.'

Furham said 100 percent of the proceeds go to the local charities supported by Unity. The haunted house is one of the organization's largest fundraisers each year.

'We have 30 high school volunteers working with us to liven up the tour,' Furham said.

Volunteers are also a big part of an annual pumpkin patch at First United Methodist Church of Plant City, 303 N. Evers St. The church's youth help unload and sell 1,300 pumpkins trucked in from New Mexico. The money helps the church's youth ministry.

'This is the youth ministry's biggest fundraiser for the year,' said Joanna France, pumpkin patch organizer. The patch is open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily through Halloween.

Plant City Community Church of the Nazarene is another of the churches offering family fun for the season. Its event combines games and candy as a safe alternative to trick-or-treating with a Kids Stuff Swap.

'This is our fifth year with the fall festival,' organizer Marlee Faircloth said. 'Our purpose for the event is to show God's love in a practical way.'

About 50 church members help make the festival a reality.

'A new aspect this year is the Kids Stuff Swap,' she said. 'Bring your gently washed used children's clothes, toys and furniture. What you bring might be just what someone else is in need of. Bring what you can, take what you need.'

Bethany Baptist Church in Cork offers its fall festival as a safe alternative to the pranks and evils of Halloween, organizer Brenda Nawlins said. The event is presented annually for children through the fifth grade.

'All the members pitch in, and we make it an exciting time for the children,' Nawlins said. 'We have plenty of room for the hayrides and games. Come on out.'

Of course, Plant City's fall festival season doesn't end with trick-or-treating or even pumpkins. Pioneer Heritage Day and the Plant City Pig Jam are Nov. 17, and then there's the monthly Strawberry Classic Car Show and the Bike Fest.

Pioneer Heritage Day and the Pig Jam celebrate landmark anniversaries this year.

The heritage day is in its 30th year and celebrates the area's heritage with crafts, people in period costumes and tours of the historical 1914 Plant City High School Community Center, 605 N. Collins St. The event is from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The Pig Jam is celebrating its fifth year and includes entertainment, family and children's activities such as a moon walk and, of course, lots of barbecue. The Pig Jam is from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Randy L. Larson Four-Plex, 1810 E. Park Road.

Reporter George H. Newman can be reached at (813) 865-4451 or gnewman@tampatrib.com.

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