An old-fashioned fair

Christ Lutheran Church in Wantagh hosted its annual country fair last Saturday to fuel donations for the parish. The festival has been running for 19 consecutive years.

Starting at 9 a.m., church members and fair coordinators set up stations to sell different items ranging from Christmas ornaments and crafts to small trinkets.

“This has been an ongoing project all year,” fair coordinator Lilly Ann Munnich said. “Many members of the church donate to the cookie walk on the far side. It’s always one of the biggest money-makers.”

With as many as 75 people in attendance at a time, guests enjoyed a lunch menu featuring soft pretzels, chili and hot dogs. The coordinators also raffled off baskets containing gift certificates and other contributions donated from various businesses in the area.

“The community is kind enough to donate gift certificates to many of the stores and in turn we try to support those businesses,” Munnich said. “It’s a real community effort.”

Lottery tickets, gym memberships, baking equipment, wine sets and movie theater tickets were just some of the many items donated to the church to raffle off at the festival.

“The money goes to the ministries of the church and three different outreach programs,” Munnich said. “Each of those groups gets approximately $300.”

Although the decision on what outreach programs the church will donate to has not been made, fair committees have teamed up with the members of the church thrift shop to sell as much as possible, knowing the proceeds will go to a good cause.

“I think this is a good chance for everyone to get together,” Pastor Martin Nale said of the fair. “And at the same time, we can raise money for some worthy causes.”

Many of the Christmas and Halloween crafts that were for sale were handmade by nursery school and Sunday school children who can give to the church and also have some fun with the upcoming holidays. The nursery school takes in children from ages 2 ½ to 5.