Strawberry Shortcake Festival ‘bigger every year’

For Jane and Max Marsh, attending the Strawberry Shortcake Festival that the Boys & Girls Club of Bloomington, Inc. Auxiliary hosts to raise money for the Boys and Girls Clubs is a yearly tradition.\nJane Marsh said as long as the festival goes on, she and her husband will attend. \n“We like it because we get the strawberries at the first of the season,” she said. “And it helps the Boys and Girls Club.”\nAs the Marshes sat on the bench eating their shortcakes last Thursday, Bloomington community members gathered on the Monroe County Courthouse lawn for the annual festival that has been a community tradition since 1986. \nWhen the festival started at 10:30 a.m., lines were already formed along the booth set up to sell the shortcakes, with each costing $4 a piece. Bruster’s Ice Cream donated 300 quarts of their product for the day of the festival.\nOn Wednesday, 300 shortcakes were delivered to those who were not able to make it to the festival. On Thursday, the rest of the 6,000 ordered shortcakes sold out, said Carol Stanton, one of the festival’s co-chairs. \n“It’s a great event for the Boys and Girls Club,” Stanton said. “It is getting bigger every year.” \nIn 1986, 500 cakes were ordered.\nStanton said this year is up 1,000 slices from last year’s 5,000 cakes. She said next year they plan to get a similar result. The popular event raised $16,500 last year and raised even more this year. The money goes toward the Boys and Girls Club of Bloomington for special events and projects to help the club in its efforts, Stanton said. \nDespite the somewhat cold and dreary weather, blankets were set up along the lawn of the courthouse, and children enjoyed a nice, shortcake-filled picnic. Young people ran and smiled as they stuffed the whipped cream cake in their face. \nThe shortcake recipe is the Auxilary’s own, but the Hoosier Hills Career Center bakes the shortcakes. \nGale Clifton and Gene Campbell were looking for community events on Thursday and found out about the strawberry festival. The first-time attendees ate and enjoyed the shortcake as other shortcake fans came and went. \n“We thought we’d get some good strawberries,” Clifton said. “It’s a fun event and something to do.”\nAnd as for the shortcake?\n“Love it,” Clifton said with a grin.