By Jodi Marze, Lifestyles Editor
The Picayune Item
PICAYUNE —
Greater Picayune Arts League (GPAC) hosted their first Spectacular Fall Festival with Fairy Tales, in Jack Read Park from Friday, October 26th through Sunday, October 28th. The event had a pumpkin patch, hay rides, refreshments and a costume contest.
Event Chair Beverly Ellston had successfully held the event in Lafreniere Park, in Metairie, La., for years before moving to the Picayune area.
Ellston came up with the idea saying, “I wanted to have something for the children that was not as scary as the haunted houses they had. I realized that many children no longer read the traditional fairy tales we grew up hearing, so I decided to have the event centered around that.”
The costume contest was held Saturday, at 5:30 p.m. with City of Picayune Economic Development Coordinator Harvey Miller as a special guest judge, along with Kathleen Potts and Jodi Marze.
There were three age groups and winners. They were:
Age group 1 to 4 years:
Co-winner- Max Greulich, son of Joey and Jessica Greulich.
Co-winner- Kylie Varnado, daughter of Grace Varnado.
Age group 5 to 8 years:
Caidyn Amison, daughter of Stacey Amison.
Age group 9 to 12 years:
Mary Clark, daughter of Angela Clark.
“I was very impressed with this entire event and the creativity in the costumes of the kids that came out. This is really nice for our community and I believe it will grow next year as the word gets out about how spectacular it was,” said Miller.
GPAC Treasurer Wanda Daul said, “We had over 500 visitors and had approximately $1,800 in donations and profits. We had people asking if we could do it again for Christmas. We expect this event to grow and be even better next year. There are still characters with stories that we could not get ready for this year.”
GPAC thanks the City of Picayune for all the assistance provided for the event. Proceeds of the event will go to benefit various GPAC groups throughout Picayune and Pearl River County.
