A Fall Festival will be held at the George Allen Fulghum Community Garden, Thursday, Sept. 14, 5-7 p.m. Activities will include apple-picking, game-playing, and face-painting. On-site vendors will include Southern Ground Coffee Shop, Foxquarter Lemonade, and Twists ‘n’ Turns Pretzel Co. (Kathy Grant Westbrook|mountolivetribune.com)
The George Allen Fulghum Community Garden, located at the corner of Southerland and Pollock streets, will be the site of a Fall Festival on Thursday, Sept. 14, 5-7 p.m. All are welcome! (Kathy Grant Westbrook|mountolivetribune.com)
A little more than a week before the official start of autumn, Steele Memorial Library is ushering in the season by hosting a Fall Festival at the George Fulghum Community Garden on Thursday, Sept. 14, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. It’s free and open to the public.
“This will be a fun-filled evening with games, face-painting, and much more!” promises Paige Newcomb, the library’s head of adult programming. “Come check out the fruit and vegetables that are growing in your own community and find out how you can help with the project.”
The garden, located at the corner of Southerland and Pollock streets in Mount Olive, is a community garden in the truest sense of the word: anyone in the community is welcome to pick fruits and vegetables to take home, and everyone is welcome to help keep it tended. It is named for the man who was the driving force behind its establishment and continual upkeep, George Allen Fulghum. Fulghum died in 2015 and Steele Memorial Library took over responsibility for the garden in 2022.
Newcomb emphasizes that Fulghum welcomed everyone to the garden. “He wanted everybody to enjoy it. That was his passion.”
The Fall Festival gives the library an opportunity to showcase the garden’s bounty, as apple-picking is one of the main events planned for the evening. Plastic bags will be provided, but folks are welcome to bring their own bags or pails if they wish. And, while there, it will be a great time to check out other trees in the orchard that are heavy with green persimmons; community residents can plan to come back and pick those when they ripen. (Not a fan of persimmons? Give persimmon pudding a try before you write ‘em off.)
Kids (of all ages!) will find plenty of games to play, including cornhole, giant versions of Jenga and Connect-Four, and others. A face-painter will be on-hand, and there will be displays for photo opportunities. Anyone who posts photos of the event on social media is asked to tag the library in their posts.
No festival would be complete without vendors, so you can expect to see Southern Ground Coffee Shop, Foxquarter Lemonade, and Twists ‘n’ Turns Pretzel Co. A local Girl Scout troop will be on-site with an information table and treats.
Those planning to attend are encouraged to register for the event by calling 919-299-8105, ext. 2. However, anyone who doesn’t get around to registering is still welcome to attend.
