26th Strawberry Festival raises funds for Boys and Girls Club

Volunteers worked in two assembly lines making bowl after bowl of strawberry shortcake. Shortcake, ice cream, strawberries and whipped cream, delivered to a consistent line of about 30 customers.

The Strawberry Festival, organized by the Bloomington Boys and Girls Club Auxiliary for 26 years has taken place Thursday on the lawn of the Monroe County Courthouse.

By 1 p.m., volunteer Christina Hurlow said the 2,500 servings of shortcake brought to the event had dwindled down to less than 400 with an hour and a half left to go.

Kathleen Plucker, president of the Auxiliary, said there was a good chance of selling out of strawberry shortcake.

“Last year we totaled over $20,000 and we’re on track for a record year,” she said. “We’re hoping for $22,000.”

Money raised at the festival will go toward programs and expenses that directly affect children in the Boys and Girls Club, such as after-school snacks, busses that take the kids to the club from school and resources for homework help, Plucker said.

“For the after-school program, parents pay $20 per year,” said Jeff Baldwin, executive director of the Boys and Girls Club.

“We provide transportation after school to bring them to the club, different programs like aviation club, chess club, cooking club. We also provide academic support, mentoring from the professional staff. All of that equals $525 per kid. We have to fill the hole.”

While the organization does apply for some federal grants, Baldwin said they focus more on community fundraising efforts.

“We pride ourselves by being supported by the community,” he said, “stay diversified.”

For the festival, a corner of the courthouse building was transformed into a stage, and barefooted children in sundresses, bright shirts and shorts danced on the concrete sidewalk before the reggae steel drum band.

Bloomington resident Nathan Ainslie sat on the grass with strawberry shortcake leftovers and watched his kids, Noah and Gabriel, dance to the music.

Noah flung his arms and jumped up and down, while Gabriel jumped back and forth between concrete squares, stopping on each one to stare at his dad before jumping again.

The family attends the festival every year, Nathan Ainslie said.

He works down the street and sees the signs a week before the event.

“I watched the movie ‘Strawberry Shortcake,’” Noah said — which he likes more than the food. “I liked the first one, the original.”