The festival will feature dozens of cakes, ice cream and strawberries on Friday, and donations for the church will be accepted.
The First Presbyterian Church of Moorestown will host its annual strawberry festival on Friday from 6 to 9 p.m.
For every shelf-stable and/or household item or paper product donated to the church’s Blessing Box and Grace Boutique on that day, participants will have a chance to win a $250 Visa gift card. The more items, the more chances to win.
“We thought that would be something different to do this year,” said Laurie LaMonica, a member of the Strawberry Festival Committee, of the gift-card giveaway.
The festival is free, but a donation of $10 per person is suggested. Proceeds benefit the church’s mission trip to North Carolina to assist with hurricane disaster relief. The event will feature all the traditional fixings, including dozens of cakes; kids activities; a cash-only hot dog and hamburger stand; music by the Moorestown Community Band and the Trophy Husbands; and, of course, fresh strawberries.
“My favorite part of the festival is the cake room,” noted LaMonica, who has run the event for years with Jen Allen and Kristen Perkowski. “There’s a lot of dynamics that go into making the cake room right, and the flow of the room, but I love to see people come in … People love to come in and get their strawberries, ice cream and cake …
“Their eyes light up when they see the different kinds of cakes,” she added, “and I love to go in there and see people enjoying it.”
Before the festival, volunteers hull the strawberries by removing their green stems – known as calyx – so as not to waste the top of the berry and to preserve more of the fruit, according to MasterClass, an online learning platform.
“Anyone can come and do it,” LaMonica explained. “You’ll see little kids cutting strawberries (with adult supervision) … And then we have people that have been doing it for 60 years and they take it very seriously … All ages come out and cut strawberries; they love it.
“They might not be able to come to the festival, but they come out and hull strawberries and it’s so much fun.”
Now in its 66th year, the festival has been run by LaMonica for a decade, and it’s always something to which she looks forward.
“You can enjoy walking around with your family, playing games …” she said. “It’s really a great night and you get to enjoy your community. You’ll get to see people that you haven’t seen in a long time. Your kids will have a great time, and it’s just a great event.”
To volunteer for the Strawberry Festival team, or for additional information on the event, visit www.fpcmoorestown.org/community/community-wide-events/strawberry-festival/.
