Molena Fest set for Saturday

Molena Fest will kick off Saturday, Nov. 3 at 10 a.m. with hometown fun and games, musical entertainment through the day, arts and crafts booths and great food. The annual event is hosted by the Molena Civic Club and will have fun events for the whole family, including a tug-of-war tournament, a three-legged race, a pie eating contest and the Molena Fest parade at 11 a.m., followed by a pet parade. ’We always have many vendor booths with arts and crafts and food and entertainment all day,’ said Molena Civic Club president Nancy Perkerson. ‘At 8 a.m. registration will start for a 5K run sponsored by the Mount Olive Baptist Church youth group. All the proceeds will go to buy Christmas gifts for Molena Nursing Home residents. They’re calling it the Molena Mission Run.’ The fee to register for the 5K is $15 in advance and $20 the day of the race. Free family games will be held all day, including the three-legged race at 10:15 a.m., the pie eating contest at 2 p.m. and the tug-of-war tournament at 10:45 a.m., 11:45 a.m., 12:45 p.m. and 3:45 p.m.The sounds of local talent will be heard with the Pike County Elementary Chorus at 10:30 a.m., acoustic guitar by Eli Ingram at 12 noon, blue grass gospel by the Men of Mount Olive at 1 p.m., Ben Goude’s tunes at 2:15 p.m., country gospel by Alyssa Hanson and Daulton Corbett at 2:30 p.m. and comedian Tim Bannister at 3 p.m. The day’s events will be emceed by George and Eldon Ingram. The smells of festival food will also fill the air as the civic club serves Molena’s signature turkey sandwiches, harkening back to a time when Molena was considered the Turkey Capital of the World. Other food booths at this year’s Molena Fest will include fried pies, cakes, funnel cakes, chicken and fish. The civic club booth will offer T-shirts with original art work and note cards of Molena designed by Marsha the Artist, other art work, cakes, coffee and sausage biscuits. Other vendor booths will offer hand crafted jewelry, original art work and additional unique items.