Greenbelt Recreation put on its annual Fall Fest in Schrom Hills Park on Saturday, October 21, and, despite the windy weather and a week’s delay for rain, the event had a great turnout, as it is a community favorite.
The event was free to enter, and attendees were offered their choice of complimentary buttered popcorn or kettle corn and apple cider at the pavilion.
Multiple picnic tables were set up for pumpkin carving and decorating and they quickly filled with children and families working diligently on their pumpkins. There was also face painting, hayrides and open space next to the playground saved for this year’s new attractions: Bubble Ball, a game with inflatable balls that encase the players, and Arrow Tag, a game in which players are furnished with bows and foam-tipped arrows. Greenbelt Recreation staff members and volunteers working the event were especially excited to see how those would turn out but due to the extreme wind, the games, which involved inflatables unfortunately had to be canceled.
A.J. Sesay was one of those who was most looking forward to seeing how the new activities fared and had predicted that those would get the most attention. He has always enjoyed the Fall Fest, attending the event as a staff member in previous years. This time was his second year overseeing it as event coordinator.
“It’s cool to see the families coming out and everybody having fun, and it’s cool to see the different elements of fall,” he told the News Review.
Two of the volunteers, Lillian Rankel and Ella Galban, talked with the News Review as they staffed one of the pumpkin-decorating tables. One of Rankel’s favorite parts of the Fall Fest are the hayrides, while Galban most enjoys the popcorn and the cider. Both young women have happily volunteered with Greenbelt Recreation for a while in various capacities, including participating in the weekly Teen Takeover on Fridays and working as camp counselors. Galban said she likes volunteering for Greenbelt Recreation because she gets to help the general public. She also enjoys the fact that it’s youth focused. “I like how we center on the youth, so that way they become role models in the community,” said Galban. Rankel explained that she’s lived here all her life, so she likes volunteering because she gets to participate in these community events with people from her neighborhood.
The ferocious wind that blew away the possibilities of games with inflatables also led to the cancellation of the Schrom Hills pumpkin walk that evening, where the carved pumpkins would have lined the park’s paths. Instead, the participants were able to take their jack-o-lanterns home with them from the festival. A great time was had by all and hopefully the weather will be more favorable next year.
Emily Jacob is a student at the University of Maryland’s Philip Merrill College of Journalism writing for the News Review.
