Boalsburg’s annual Memorial Day celebration has gone through “a sort of rebirth” this year.
The festival’s founder and longtime organizer Margie Tennis passed away last year shortly after Memorial Day, Harris Township manager Amy Farkas says.
So when Boalsburg resident Jeff Fisher was approached by the Memorial Day committee, he had no idea that he would end up running the show – but that’s exactly what happened.
“Jeff has brought a fresh take on the event,” Farkas says in an email. “The rest of the committee has also done a great job of planning the event after such a huge loss of institutional knowledge.”
But Fisher downplays his importance, saying he had immeasurable help from his neighbors and fellow committee members. He describes planning the festival like putting a puzzle together; the pieces largely stay the same from year to year, he just has to get them all in the right place at the right times.
“It’s like planning a wedding: something’s going to go wrong,” Fisher jokes. “Of course you don’t want anything to go wrong, but when it does you just make sure you have people there and you have it covered.”
And it looks like Fisher and his colleagues have things more than covered: the annual celebration kicks off on Thursday evening with the Boalsburg Fire Company Carnival, which runs all weekend. Saturday will feature the ever-popular Memorial Day parade, and Monday will finish the celebration with a variety of vendors and live music.
It’s fitting that Boalsburg puts on such a popular event for Memorial Day. After all, as the sign outside town reminds visitors, three Boalsburg women helped create the holiday when they began decorating soldier’s graves in 1864.
“It’s important to keep everything in perspective,” Fisher says. “Memorial Day is a great celebration, but we must remember those who gave their lives in service of their country and those who are serving now. That’s what it’s all about.”
Boalsburg Fire Company Chief Van Winter agrees, and says he’s enjoyed helping organize the fire company’s carnival for more than three decades in honor of America’s military members.
But the annual Memorial Day celebration also hits close to home for Winter. The carnival is the fire company’s biggest annual fundraiser, routinely bringing in as much as $16,000 a year. That money helps with everything from paying the electric bill to replacing aging equipment, Winter says.
Winter and other fire company volunteers have been hard at work over the past few weeks moving rides, games and other carnival equipment into place in the lot near the firehouse. All told, Winter says the company has put in “several hundred hours of manpower” to get the carnival grounds ready.
“It really brings the whole community together for a weekend,” Winter says. “It’s a great way to get everyone out here for a great time.”
Click here for more information about Memorial Day festivities in Boalsburg, or click here for a complete list of Memorial Day celebrations in the State College area.
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