This year’s Fall Festival was a tremendous success financially, bringing in a 20 percent increase in our gross over last year and the second highest gross in over a decade. We ended with the highest profit as far back as accurate records show and a 29 percent increase over last year, even though the weather was iffy in the morning.

The Fall Festival Committee attributes our financial success to careful, long-term planning, which brought in large amounts of money to our five main money-making activities–craft vendor rentals, food (including the food booth and Friendly Café), sale of donated items (Friends Mercantile and Silent Auction), kids’ activities, and the Greenery at the Grapevine (our fall plant sale). Unlike in the past, each activity now pulls its own weight and contributes significantly to the Festival. Also, for the last three years our expenses have held steady at around 17 percent of our gross.

Festival Food
Our food category brought in the highest amount of money. As always our Festival’s food booth, The Wooden Ladle, did a brisk business. This year, our head cook figured out how much it costs per ounce to make our vegetable soup and vegetarian chili, so that now we can price them accordingly. And even though she made more chili, we still sold out of it. Again, we offered hot apple cider and soft pretzels, but this time encouraged patrons to buy them as a snack. Even with the prudent purchasing and donations, the higher cost of food ingredients forced us to raise the price of our soup and chili but with little effect on the bottom line.

Also included in the food total is the Friendly Café, our Festival’s baked goods shop. This year, the Café Ladies did a bang up job, enabling their profits to soar to a record total from the sale of delicious cakes, pies, cookies, brownies, fudge, and freshly baked organic bread. Through reorganization, creative displays, and a lot of effort, the Café has increased its take by 78 percent over the last six years.

Donated Items
The sale of donated items through the Friends Mercantile and Silent Auction wasn’t far behind. Sales weren’t as high as in recent years, and the person in charge of the Mercantile attributed this to the lesser number of items donated this year. Our Silent Auction featured 40 unique items, including five gift baskets offered for the first time.

The Greenery at the Grapevine
This year, the Greenery at the Grapevine, with a new name, far outdid itself, bringing in sales 124 percent over last year. And while this booth brought in a high amount of money by itself, it’s just one of our five main activities. It’s important that we offer a balance to our patrons so that we can attract the broadest possible group of visitors.

The amount brought in by renting spaces to craft vendors was the lowest on record. We attributed this to the poor economy. This year we provided entertainment over in the crafts area to keep the crowds moving through there.

Young Friends Frolics
Since 2004, the Young Friends Frolics (our kids activities) has been on a steady road to recovery and growth. We attribute this to the organization and enthusiasm of the women who coordinated the crafts and games. Our face painting booth has raised this fun activity to an art form, next year to be called Face Art. Hayrides, our Quaker jukebox, the Cakewalk supplemented our crafts and games. This year, under the leadership of two of our Young Friends, our Cakewalk took on a life of its own, with its own music and a new location next to the face painting booth. It also attracted participants of all ages. We moved the Quaker Jukebox indoors to provide some entertainment in the Café and that enabled it to bring in nearly twice as much as last year.

The Quaker Way
The top prize at this year’s Fall Festival goes to the new Quaker Way exhibit, assembled by our Outreach Committee. For the first time, the booth encouraged 25 or so people to ask questions about our Meeting and Quakerism in general. A new exhibit, featuring two Powerpoint presentations, posed questions about Quakerism and offered a look at our new Web site. Plans are already in place to expand this effort next year with coordinated talks in the Meeting House and an expanded historical exhibit about our Meeting. Inside our Meeting House, we again offered an exhibit of vintage clothing and other historic items, as well as our annual Quaker wedding re-enactment.

Thanks goes to everyone who worked before, during, and after our Festival, especially to those who donated their time and energy to help set up the Friends Mercantile. There was definitely a positive attitude and a feeling of enthusiasm that seemed infectious. In fact, more good ideas came from Festival workers than ever before.

Submitted December 6, 2009

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