The dulcet tones of Larry Von Essen and his acordian are enjoyed by the crowd during the 37th annual Strawberry Festival at Bradley United Methodist. Friday, June 11, 2021. ( Tom Russo | Daily Reporter)
GREENFIELD — With large amounts of strawberries, ice cream and homemade shortcake, organizers are ready to serve at the Strawberry Festival this Friday — enough to feed an estimated 2,000 people.
On the southwest corner of Pennsylvania and Main streets is where Bradley United Methodist Church will play host to Greenfield’s 39th Strawberry Festival. This will be its third year hosting.
Co-chair of the festival Julie Rogers said that they have to increase the number of shortcakes made each year, but 2,000 is about the maximum the kitchen at church can hold.
Kathy Locke, member of Bradley UMC, is the food chair of the food preparation and serving segment of the festival.
Preparation begins on Wednesday, with two daytime bakes and one in the evening. Between four and six people bake at a time in the basement of the church, where they have an industrial kitchen.
As far as expanding the number of shortcakes for future festivals, Locke said they would probably have to partner with another church or organizations since they’ve already maximized their space.
The plan is to bake 2,000 shortcakes, but Locke said that on the event’s Facebook page it shows about 6,000 people interested or going to the festival.
“You may not want to wait till the end of the festival,” Locke said.
While the numbers are everchanging, the recipe remains the same.
“We use the same recipe the Presbyterian church had … but we drop it so that way we have individual shortcakes,” Rogers said.
The tradition began in 1984 with First Presbyterian Church and was officially handed over to Bradley UMC in the early months of 2020. Due to COVID, however, they had to cancel the festival that summer. First Presbyterian Church permanently closed its doors soon after.
Another tradition held during the festival is the live entertainment. Every hour will have one performer. Crowd favorite Larry Von Essen will be the first to perform with his accordion. Other entertainment will follow, such as Greenfield-Central High School Strings, directed by Grant Pfifer, Brad Herndon, Mike Reder; and last performer Jerry Bell, playing his saxophone.
In previous years, Bradley UMC always did presale tickets but would run into the issue of running out of product before serving everyone who had a ticket. This year, it didn’t sell tickets and the cost is $8 per person at the door.
“This year, we are trying it this way to see if this alleviates that so that no one is disappointed if we sell out of product and they had a ticket but didn’t get theirs,” Rogers said.
Proceeds will be divided up and given to eight local organizations: Hancock County Food Pantry, Kenneth Butler Memorial Soup Kitchen, Hope House, Love INC, The Landing Place, Talitha Koum Women’s Recovery House, Friends of Hancock County CASA and Bradley Preschool.
Last year, these same organizations received about $1,500 each.
One of the organizations, Love INC, has been receiving the donations since Bradley UMC took over the festival and puts the money toward general expenses. Executive director Debra Weber said Love INC is blessed and feels fortunate to be a recipient.
“The wonderful volunteers at Bradley do all the real work,” Weber said.
The fun is scheduled for 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. while supplies last. They will accept cash or card.
“It is such a fun time for the community,” Rogers said. “Everybody is happy, you know? It’s June and usually beautiful weather. Everybody is just happy to be together, listen to some music and have a good time.”
