Crowds of all ages flocked to the annual Our Lady of Fatima School's Fall Festival in Magnolia on Saturday night, Oct. 3. This year the event was coined the "Far Out Festival" with an outer-space theme. The school was packed with outdoor participants springing high into the chilly air on the "Monkey Motion" ride and bouncing around on colorful inflatables and young foursomes crooning Roberta Flack and other stars on the large karaoke stage.
Inside, the packed gymnasium offered a cake walk with enough one-of-a-kind confections to fill a bakery, a "Guitar Hero" with rear projection set on stage for rocker wannabes, and popcorn and pretzels sold in the nearby hallway.
"This is a wonderful occasion," said Fatima's Fr. James Johnson who was making the rounds while sporting pointed green rubber alien ears. "The best thing is that the weather held, thanks be to God, our sponsor. It rained heavily two years ago."
"I've been to every single Fall Festival and I think this year is the largest," said Susan Burdett, school principal of 22 years. She was wearing big green space alien goggles. "We do this more as a community event than as a fundraiser."
"It's fun, and I get a lot of candy," enthused Sophia Piacencini, a third grader at the school. "I did pie-throwing, and hit my big sister."
"This is the biggest community event for our school," said Kym Otte, who has a son enrolled in kindergarten, another son to begin next year, and lives just down the street from the school. "An event like this takes a lot of parents to volunteer. When it's over, my husband, Jeff, is doing cleanup for three hours with a bunch of other dads."
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