Adams community gathers
ADAMS TWP — Mother Nature showed the change between summer and fall Saturday at the township community park.
The township’s annual Community Day was marred by rainy, chilly weather. That caused attendance to decrease to just several hundred.
Dave Goodworth, festival organizer and a township supervisor, said thousands showed up last year.
“The weather is usually a driving factor in bringing people to the park,” Goodworth said.
Festival organizers also said the lack of a 5K race this year may have cut down on the number of people who were there.
No race meant the start of Community Day was pushed back to 12:15 p.m. with the Mars High School Band performing the opening ceremonies.
“The crowd wasn’t as big as it used to be,” Supervisor Linda Lees said. “But as the morning progressed and the afternoon started, the crowds showed up.”
Lees said the annual festival is a “meeting place” for new people to get to know each other. She said a large number of people have moved to the area in recent years.
“It’s a community getting acquainted with everybody,” she said. “They come here and find out that Adams Township is a very good place to live.”
Among the plethora of family-friendly activities were a petting zoo with goats, sheep, a donkey and a pony; inflatable obstacle courses; bingo; a horseshoe tournament and the Gymagic bus.
Stage entertainment consisted of the Mars band, the Mars Stars jump rope group, a demonstration by Cranberry ATA Martial Arts, Melody Molinaro and the Sweet Beats, and Mars-based band Dizzy Woosh.
Free food was served between noon and 3 p.m. at the Rotary Pavilion, including pulled pork, hot dogs and fruit salad. About 1,000 hot dogs and 60 pounds of pulled pork were bought for the day.
Cathy Smith and her family visited the area from Southern California and experienced the petting zoo.
“It’s something you don’t do every day,” Smith said.
Despite the weather, the Thunder Over Adams fireworks show went on to light up the night sky. Music for the show with the theme “full throttle” was broadcast over the radio.
“It’s a great thing to have people come together,” Goodworth said. “It’s become a tradition.”
As for whether or not the 5K race will make a return next year, Lees said she wasn’t sure.
“There will be a new group leading it,” she said.
Festival organizers said their hope for next year’s Community Day is for better weather.
