They went through 630 snow cones, 420 orders of cotton candy and another 280 of popcorn.
They played on a bounce house with a slide, tested themselves on an obstacle course and explored 20 booths providing everything from face painting to stuffed pig races.
The annual Harvest Festival unfolded Friday, Sept. 27, at Nyssa Elementary School with warm weather and a crowd estimated at 1,000.
“It’s a time when the community gets to join together in sponsoring, donating and supporting the children of our community,” reported Naomi Rich, president of the Parent Teacher Organization.
The organization orchestrates the event, which raises money to support elementary school needs through the year.
Besides parent volunteers, 30 students from Nyssa High School earned community service credit for graduation by helping with “set up, assisting teachers at a booth, face painting and cleaning up and taking down booths,” Rich said.
The event T-shirt was designed by high school student Jenny Trujillo. She featured a bulldog wearing the oversized foam cowboy hat worn by Shane Pratt, the elementary school principal.
Rich estimated that 40 teachers and other staff from the elementary school worked on the festival.
“The staff was having just as much fun as the kids,” Rich said.
Festival-goers bought 530 wrist bands, 4,425 booth tickets and spent $1,400 on silent auction items.
Each year, the Parent Teacher Organization provides $1,000 for each grade level at the elementary school for supplies and classroom needs. The group covers have the cost of field trips to lower the cost for students and provides crafts so students make their own Christmas gifts for parents.
Rich said those working on the festival included Ruth Blazzard (sponsors and donations), Linsey Kessler (T-shirts), Tessa Holloway (silent auction), Rocio Truiljio (prizes), Lori Schulthies (booths), Genniel Frahm (pre-sale tickets), Candy Cassity (tickets), Nyssa High School senior class (dinner).
Sponsors and donors included:
Butler & Looney & Martinsen, Branch Floral, Campbell Tractor, Cannon Hill Feeders, Cleaneat, Corn Farms, Current Physical Therapy, Deriah Mitchell, Dutch Bros., Eagle Eye Produce, Froerer Farms, Las Esmeraldas, L&B Equipment, Lassiter Roofing, Les Schwab, Lindsay Ecowater, Marie Ballard, Mel Beck Real Estate, Mikki Logan, Pers Plu, Mountain Valley Enterprise, Munk Family Dental;
Nyssa Mercantile, Nyssa Fire Department, Nyssa Police Department, Rick’s Barber Shop, Robbins Farms and Chad and Megan Robbins, Rodriguez Bakery, Roman’s Precision Irrigation, Sally Book, Skeen Farm, Sugar Mamma, Susan Barton, Tina Cleaver, Thunderegg Coffee, U-Design Embroidery, Valley Family Healthy, Valley Wide Cooperative, WBH Farms and Tyler and Brette Wagstaff.
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