VFW Post 8577 holds annual fall festival on Saturday

By DAVID J. HARDIN
Cove Leader-Press

Another fall festival took place on Saturday October 28 for the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 8577. 
The event has been held since 1992 and is an opportunity for the organization to reach out to the community and invite local residents and their families to enjoy food, candy, and games for Halloween. 
The event also has an auction on various items and a raffle, which raises money for various VFW Auxiliary programs to include the Veterans Hospital, scholarships for students, veterans support, and a nursing program. The fall festival also raises money for the VFW Children’s Christmas Party and food baskets for Thanksgiving.
During the Fall Festival, children and their parents participated in a cakewalk, and kids were judged on their costumes during the costume contest. Lunch and drinks were also served.
For the costume contest, one-year-old Aiden Groves and Mila Mitchell won the 0-1-year-old division, Ke’andre Gilkey won the 5-7-year-old division, and Myah Evans Ramirez won the 10-12-year-old division. There were many more contestants last year than this year.
Stacy Evans has been coming to the VFW Fall Festival for many years and said she and her family enjoy attending the event every year. This year she brought her son, Daniel Evans (19), and her daughter, Myah Evans Ramirez (10), Myah won the costume contest for 10 year-olds and above, dressed as a vampire.
Shirley Anderson brought her grandchildren Nolan Davidson and Ava Kennedy. Shirley said a friend told her about the event. Ava and Nolan both agreed that the cakewalk was the best event of the day.
Bonnie Henderson is the President of the VFW Auxiliary and talked about this year’s event. 
“We love to be able to open this event to the public and bring the community together. This event is one of our main fundraisers each year,” Henderson said. “Sometimes it’s hard to schedule this event, but we try on do it on the last Saturday in October.”
The VFW fall festival had a lower turnout this year due to several factors such as the weather and other events happening on the same day. The VFW Fall Festival will come back again next October.