Heather Ainsley
ECB Publishing, Inc.
On Saturday, Oct. 23, the Jefferson County Recreation Park came alive as over 150 Monticello citizens came out for the first of many community and collective church events organized by the Monticello Church of the Nazarene. Through careful planning and organization, Monticello Church of the Nazarene member Samantha Wainright, who organized the event, brought numerous churches together for an afternoon of fun and seasonal festivities for families and individuals looking to have a good time.
The Festival included participation from 8 additional local churches, including Restored Glory Christian Center, Central Baptist Church, First Baptist Church, Monticello United Methodist Church, Waukeenah United Methodist Church, Wacissa Christian, Transforming Life Church, and A Home Church in Monticello, who all came out to support one another and their communities as a collective “body of Christ.” The goal of this event was to gather as many local churches as possible for a united, joyous occasion.
This fun-filled afternoon included arts and crafts stations, countless games with prizes, 2 bounce houses, give aways, and food. All of the activities, prizes and games were offered by each church free to the public, and local businesses also rallied together to show their support for this community outreach event. Downtown Monticello boutique 
Soulshine Vintage donated boxes of unsold shirts, dresses and brand new shoes that were given away free of charge at the festival. Local business, Pop's Sanitation provided the event with eight trash bins and hauled away the trash free of charge. Mike Holm with the Jefferson County Rec Park was also very helpful, and ensured that all the church vendors had everything they needed. It was collaboration and cooperation from so many members of the community that helped this event become such a great success.
This was the first of many future events that are planned to be held at the Rec park, the next being an Easter Celebration. The Monticello Church of the Nazarene would like to extend an open invitation to any and all churches to join in on the community fun. Any church that would like to participate, as well as anyone who would like to sponsor or provide food, or any local boutiques that would like to donate unsold clearance items should contact Samantha Wainright at samdrogers326@gmail.com or (850) 766- 2772 for more information on how they may do so. Official dates and times for this year's Easter Celebration are to be announced at a later time.
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