Fall Festival

There is a tradition in our family of having a fall festival each year.

We get together for food, fun and games during the fall festival.

The menu and activities are planned in advance.

The menu can be anything from hobo stew, to international dishes or new recipes.

We have been known to just serve salads and sandwiches so more time can be spent on the fun and games.

Hobo stew is everyone brings a can of soup. They are all poured into a BIG pot and heated on the stove. Cans are saved to pour the finished stew into for serving. Cornbread and biscuits are served also to sop the juice.

International menu means each family is assigned a country and they bring one or two dishes .

New recipe is a fun way to try out a recipe.

The rules are: You cannot try out the recipe ahead of time. You cook the recipe and bring it no matter how it turns out. We always joke that take-out is 15 minutes away if all recipes fail.

The fun and games has always included a hayride.

The games that are played can include fishpond, ducks in a pan, needle in a haystack, shoot the candle out, balloon darts, pan of slime filled with prizes, ring the hula hoop with a football, ring toss,
buried treasure and many others. We are always searching for new games to try. Prizes are given according to game and skill needed to play.

Needle in a haystack is played by setting up a tent and adding lots of hay or pinestraw. The needles are either 2 drum sticks or wooden chop sticks. One or two people at the time go into the tent and look for the needles. If they are found a prize is given. Sometimes a time limit is used when there are lots of people waiting for a turn.

Shoot the candle is a game played with 6 to 8 various sized candles and small water guns. This game requires adult supervision. Candles are set up in holes drilled in a board or secured in some way so they do not fall over. A pan of water to fill several small water guns is needed. The adult overseeing the game lights the candles and fills a watergun giving it to the player. The object of the game is to shoot out all the flames with one watergun.

* If everyone who plays is getting all the candles out before running out of water, then allow them only a certain number of tries for each candle.

Slime is made ahead and filled with small items like rings and bugs and replaced with more prizes as needed. Players brave enough to place their hand in the slime are awarded the prizes they manage to pull out in one try.

Hula hoop ball is played by tying a hula hoop to a rope and suspending it from a tree 7 to 8 feet high. A foot ball is thrown at it trying to ring the hoop. Each person gets two tries. It is not always easy when the hula hoop is swaying.

Buried treasure is done by filling a large tub with white sand. Prizes are randomly placed in the sand. Players dig around until a prize is found.

Bobbing for apples causes lots of laughs and is only done if the weather has not turned cold.

Jump rope, pogo stick, horse shoe, and basketball competitions have been done.

Each festival is filled with lots of new memories and lots of ideas for next year.

Family can be the greatest gift.

We should love, respect and treasure each other.

It is our hope that this helps you plan your own fall festival and start your own memories.