Greyson Berena smashes a whipped cream pie into the face of Ava Winters at the Brookfield volleyball team’s fundraising booth at Warrior Nation Community Summerfest.
Ken Jelley wanted the first Warrior Nation Community Summerfest to be successful, so he rallied members of the Shenango Valley Corvette Club to not only bring their cars to the event for display but to man the vehicle registration booth and help park classic, muscle and unusual cars.
“It was great,” said Jelley, of Brookfield, who brought his newly purchased 1957 model. “I think it was successful enough, they’re gonna do it next year.”
Dave Glaze of Warren said he liked the variety of cars that were on display at the Aug. 11 event at Brookfield schools, and the variety of food vendors.
“I like that there’s a lot of booths that provided free information,” said Angel Barr of Brookfield, who brought her sons, Justin, 5, and Preston, 3. “The library was one of our favorite ones. They gave out stickers and an activity booklet.”
As the inclusion of the name “Summerfest” in the title implies, the event was meant as a replacement for the event of the same name that Brookfield United Methodist Church held for several summers on the green in Brookfield Center prior to the COVID-19 epidemic.
Organizers were pleased with the turnout by businesses, school groups, community service agencies, car owners and families and individuals, and how local businesses and organizations donated items, from tents to T-shirts.
“I think, first year, it exceeded all of our expectations, especially mine,” said school Supt. Toby Gibson. “I want to do something for the community and parents.”
For Gibson, a good day would have been “50 cars and a couple tents.” There were about 100 cars and dozens of tents.
“This has been amazing,” he said. “The turnout all day long was great. We’ll sit down and reflect on today and see what we need to tweak and, hopefully, next year’s is bigger and better.”
Remington Roth, 6, heaves a football at a target with encouragement from his dad, Steve.
Organizer Chris Bray, who floated the idea of a community car show in 2019, said the day went “real smooth.”
“We really didn’t have any issues,” Bray said. “We got little things we want to improve on for next year. There’ll definitely be a next year. Hopefully, it will be bigger and better.”
Tyler Thompson, of Masury, who came to the show with his wife and three kids, ages 6, 4 and 2, said there was enough for the kids to do to keep them occupied, and just the opportunity to “see a bunch of people” was a draw for them.
“It’s a nice thing for gathering people, getting the people together,” Thompson said.
“This is what we want – everyone together and happy,” said township Trustee Shannon Devitz, who was on the organizing committee.
Country-rock performer Chris Higbee, left, plays with sons Alex, on violin, and Hunter, and guitarist Mark Vincent.
Although some organizers wished more people had stuck around for Chris Higbee’s concert at the end of the event, Higbee didn’t complain.
“For the first time, I think it went really well,” he said.
School officials are hoping more school groups will participate next year, with Treasurer Jordan Weber noting that planning for this year’s event began in earnest at the end of school, making it difficult for teachers, coaches and booster club groups to get something together when school wasn’t in session.
Weber added that no school funds were spent for the event; everything was donated.
Barr said you can never go wrong with free stuff and that she would like to see face painting, snow cones and cotton candy next year.
The event raised about $2,000 toward the purchase of a sign to be posted in the school zone of Bedford Road that lists how fast vehicles are traveling, Weber said.
A bounce house absorbed some of the energy these kids brought to Summerfest.
