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fall festival

Thanks to all the Fall Festival horse volunteers!

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The ticket count shows that we provided 450 arena rides for our guests this year. That’s 1,350 laps of the arena over the six hours of Fall Festival. It takes a lot of people to make this happen smoothly and successfully. Our volunteers took tickets, fitted helmets, helped riders mount the horses, and walked the horses. We also have a volunteer monitoring the arena at all times to make sure our riders, walkers and horses are safe. Another assists with any issues that come up in the arena and helps swap out horses as needed. Hours before the gates open, volunteers bring the horses in, feed them, groom them and get them ready for the day.

And we can’t forget the horses. This is a long, probably boring, day of work for them and they all handled it very well and without any issues.

Many thanks to everyone who helped in the barn and the arena this year.

DuBois Center Fall Festival – Sunday, October 2, 2022, 11am to 5pm

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Be a part of the Fall Festival: Volunteer, promote the event, or come spend the day with us!

YOU Are Our BEST Volunteer

Our Fall Festival is only possible because of the efforts of countless volunteers. This is a great opportunity for families, confirmation classes, students in need of volunteer service hours, or, really anyone, to volunteer. Shifts can be as short as 30 minutes or as long as you want to help. If you’re interested in volunteering, sign up online or contact us by email at fallfestival@duboiscenter.org.

All Churches Can Promote the Event

If you would like to help promote the festival, promotional materials are in Weekly Connection and on the DuBois Center website. Any help to spread the word will be appreciated. Download this flyer or bulletin insert to help promote Fall Festival.

Updates on DuBois Center’s COVID-19 mitigation strategy

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As people of faith, we know intimately the importance of following the heart of the law. We were lucky this summer to have loose masking restrictions limited to inside our main buildings and when physical distancing could not be maintained. Our summer staff were truly commendable in their efforts to encourage their campers to mask up, and as such, no COVID-19 cases were reported involving our summer programming.

Our situation as the Delta Variant of COVID-19 spreads through the country is different than it was even just two months ago. As such, we plan to not only keep enforcing our indoor mask policy, we will also encourage a mask policy in our outdoor spaces at our larger fall events where physical distance can’t be maintained, such as Fall Festival. DuBois Center cannot guarantee that we will have extra masks on site when you arrive, so please bring a mask with you when you are planning to visit.

This very small step from our community partners helps reduce the risk to our wider community and helps us stay open for events.

Prepping for Fall Festival

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Calling all Bakers

We are now accepting donations for our “Sweet Treat Shop” at DuBois Center for the Fall Fest held Oct 3, 2021. We accept all kinds of baked goods – cookies, cakes, pies, candies, all of the good stuff! . This will be a fundraiser for DuBois Center and goes directly into scholarships to attend camp. Please consider donating and contact Hayley at director@duboiscenter.org or 815-627-0595 to coordinate!

Pie a Pastor

Calling all Illinois South Conference Pastors! One way we’ll raise money for DuBois Center at this year’s Fall Festival is by collecting donations to “pie a pastor” – or Hayley. We’ll set out jars and the person with the most money in their jar toward the end of the day will be pied in the face. If you’re planning to be at the DuBois Center Fall Festival and would submit your name to possibly be pied in the face, please contact Hayley at director@duboiscenter.org or 815-627-0595.

Updates on DuBois Center’s COVID-19 mitigation strategy

As people of faith, we know intimately the importance of following the heart of the law. We were lucky this summer to have loose masking restrictions limited to inside our main buildings and when physical distancing could not be maintained. No COVID-19 cases were reported involving our summer programming. Our situation as the Delta Variant of COVID-19 spreads through the country is different than it was even just two months ago. As such, we plan to not only keep enforcing our indoor mask policy, we will also encourage a mask policy in our outdoor spaces at our larger fall events where physical distance can’t be maintained, such as Fall Festival.

DuBois Center cannot guarantee that we will have extra masks on site when you arrive, so please bring a mask with you when you are planning to visit. This small step from our community partners helps reduce the risk to our wider community and helps us stay open for events. We encourage everyone to be smart, safe, and well.

Fall Festival Challenge Update

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Thank you for your most generous support of the DuBois Center 2020 Fall Festival Challenge. Being a major fundraiser for DuBois Center, we knew that the necessary cancellation of the annual Fall Festival due to COVID-19 safety concerns would produce a financial hardship. The negative impact was reduced thanks to the extravagant gifts of those of you who responded. A portion of the proceeds from this challenge has been used to purchase much needed helmets and saddle blankets for the vital ministry of our equestrian program.

Nancy Wagner, Outdoor Ministry Team Chairperson

Matthew 6:21: For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Fall Festival Postponed

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Again, with a heavy heart, we announce that another major DuBois Center event is postponed. As you are hopefully aware, our priority is the health and safety of our campers, guests and staff. As COVID-19 cases rise steadily throughout Washington county, our region, and across the nation, it is clear that to proceed with this event would not be the cautious or sensible approach. As we examined the amount of nearly constant disinfecting, crowd control and monitoring that would be required, it became clear that to proceed was just not feasible.

THANKS to everyone who has already invested time and energy in this event. We are looking forward to celebrating together again in 2021.

The first Fall Open House was held in 1977; that was the beginning of our annual Fall Festival. This would have been year #43 for this important friend- and fund-raising event.

Fall Line-up

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It’s never too early to start planning for fall! Here are some events you won’t want to miss!

 

Sept 11            Bunco Night at Zoar UCC
Sept 28           1st Day of Nature’s Classroom
Oct 3               Fall Festival Work Day
October 4   DuBois Center Fall Festival
Oct 9-10         ISC Confirmation Retreat
Oct 16-18       Mother-Daughter Retreat

Calling all Quilters!

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For over a decade, the quilt drawing has been a significant piece of the annual DuBois Center Fall Festival. In recent years, we have been blessed to have two or more art quality quilts each year which together have raised $1500-$2400 annually. The quilts are donated by local church quilting groups and other friends of DuBois Center.

Specifications: new or like-new, queen-size – this size seems to be most popular, appealing to a wide audience, and made with love and prayers. Ideally, the quilts begin traveling to local churches in August, so a July completion date works well.

If you or your quilting group might be interested in donating a work-of-art quilt for the 2020 Fall Festival, please contact DuBois Center at dcinfo@DuBoisCenter.org or 618-787-2202. We’d love to talk to you about the possibilities.

Thank You

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THANK YOU!
It rained, but it didn’t pour! The skies were overcast, but the sun did peek out every once in a while. Through it all the tractors kept rolling, the musicians kept singing and smiling faces and umbrellas were everywhere. The rain may have dampened the turnout, but not the spirit. Thanks to the Volunteers, Staff, Vendors and Guests who made Fall Festival 2019 a success!
Watch upcoming editions of Weekly Connection to hear some of the fun stories from this event.