By Mindy Ragan Wood
Staff Writer
Okarchefest may have set a record this year as organizers total the donations from Saturday night’s festival.
“I don’t have all the expenses in but preliminarily looks like we exceeded last year’s total,” Okarche Education Foundation Treasurer Amber Smith said Tuesday.
OEF raised $23,000 last year, an amount that far exceeded its annual goal of $18,000. The festival proceeds fund teacher grants for classroom supplies and learning tools not covered by state or school district funding.
The festival was flooded with long lines to the beer stand and food vendors as children played happily nearby at the kiddie corral. The cornhole tournament was busy and the donations to the Okarchefest Royalty Contest poured in until 8 p.m.
Pets were in on the fun too. “Duke” boasted a pair of sunglasses alongside his owner Mackey Battista. He wasn’t sure how his pet came by cool shades, but Duke seemed to appreciate them.
“It’s his first time wearing them,” Battista said. “He’s had them on about three hours. I was buying a beer and when I turned around someone had put a pair of shades on him.”
Several students performed solos or songs with other students in addition to two professional bands that kept the crowd rocking. By 9 p.m. children were full of anticipation as they awaited the contest winner announcement.
Third graders Jake Henderson and Reese Robinson were crowned Okarchefest Prince and Princess and Jonah Pendergraft and Avery Schieber Okarchefest King and Queen. The contest is a donation drive.
Superintendent Rob Friesen was grateful for the turnout and the support.
“It was pretty busy and seemed like everything went really well,” he said. “People turned out and really seemed to enjoy everything, especially when our kids were performing on the musical stuff. That’s always fun to see them to get to enjoy what they do. The community is always willing to support the school and support our programs and that’s what is really awesome about this place. They do a great job of showing up and supporting kids. We appreciate that more than anything because it makes our job that much easier to know we have someone behind us that cares. It’s a nice advantage that we have that a lot of places don’t.”
