Families flock to 145th annual Concordia Summer Festival
Almost as long as there’s been a Butler County, there’s been a summer festival on the campus of Concordia Lutheran Ministries in Jefferson Township. The tradition continued on Sunday, July 26, with the 145th annual Summer Festival.
According to Frank Skrip, public relations coordinator for Concordia, the Summer Festival initially existed as a fundraising event for the organization when it originally served as an orphanage. Today, Concordia Lutheran Ministries is primarily a network of senior living facilities, including the Cabot location on Marwood Road where Sunday’s event was held.
“We had a working farm here, so the staff of the orphanage would basically do a farmer’s market where people could buy food, buy vegetables and things like that,” Skrip said.
Today, the festival is a free community event. Skrip estimates 800 people usually show up for it.
“This is just something that we like to do to be a good neighbor and to give back to the community … something that our residents can enjoy and bring their families out,” Skrip said.
Among the list of activities at the event was a kids’ zone featuring a fishing derby for children 12 and under. The event is a miniature version of another Concordia event, the fishing derby held each year at Saxony Farm Estates. On Sunday, children were given a chance to catch fish in the plentiful pond behind Concordia’s Lund Care Center.
“A lot of kids catch their first fish here,” said Concordia nursing director and event volunteer Wendy Moore. “They’ve never fished before, so we have people to help them hook their worms to cast their line, unhook their fish and then we measure … We give a prize every half hour for the smallest fish and the largest fish. We’ve had an 11-inch bass so far today.”
Other activities include free caricatures for children, as well as a live performance from the Pittsburgh Doo Wop Big Band.
The centerpiece of the event took place at 4 p.m., with an outdoor worship service that — according to Concordia CEO Keith Frndak — normally attracts 150 guests.
“Concordia started as a mission of the (Lutheran) church and we still are,” Frndak said. “So the worship service just reminds me that the church is what started this way back when.”
A growing addition to the festival was the car cruise, organized by Paul Stamp, who also organizes the car cruise held at Saxonburg’s Mingle on Main events. While the festival has hosted car cruises for around a decade, Stamp said this year’s cruise was the largest yet, with an estimated 100 cars — including Stamp’s own entry, a white Mercury with flame decals.
“We’ve got a bunch of events Saxonburg, Freeport … but this is the one we like the most,” Stamp said.
