Falkville firemen rescue fall festival

By Staff
Clif Knight, Hartselle Enquirer
Falkville's annual Fall Festival is alive and well thanks to the town's volunteer firefighters coming to the rescue.
The festive daylong event, which is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 27, faced cancellation earlier in the year when its sponsor, Falkville Community Pride, decided it didn't have enough members to handle the planning and coordination involved. That's when the town's volunteer fire department stepped in.
"They came to us and said they couldn't continue to serve as sponsor," Fire Chief Eric Sawyer said. "We didn't want to see the festival stopped so we agreed to serve as sponsor on the condition that they would continue to play an active role in the project and they agreed to do that.
"We have added some new events and improved others," Sawyer said. "We believe we have put together an exciting and entertaining lineup of activities for the entire family and we're looking forward to having a big turnout."
The day's activities will begin at 6 a.m. with the fire department's annual Pancake Breakfast.
"We'll grill golden brown buttermilk pancakes and serve them with all the fixings as long as we have customers," Sawyer said. "There is no admission charge but donations are requested."
Children's rides and games, vendor booths, tractor show and live stage entertainment and other events will get under way at 8 a.m. and continue until 4 p.m. Bingo will be played in the town hall auditorium, a chili cook-off will be staged in front of the fire hall and exhibitors and food vendors will be lined up on both sides of the railroad in front of the town hall and fire department. Vendor space is still available at $20 for a 10 foot by 10 foot space.
Spaces may be reserved by calling the town hall at 784-5922.
Falkville Lions Club will offer free vision screens, LifeSouth will operate a bloodmobile and the Morgan County Health Department will offer health screens.
Entertainment will be provided by Steele's Karaoke and a '50s and '60s band.
There's a $25 entry fee for the chili cook-off. Participants will prepare and cook their chili outside in front of the fire hall and an independent panel will do the judging. The winner will receive a cash prize, the amount of which will be determined by the number of participants. .
Town Councilman Matt Stiles said a portion of the proceeds will be retained as seed money for the next year's festival and the remainder will be donated to Falkville schools.