Pastor Rob Jeffrey came to the Bradford Alliance Church three years ago, and noticed from his first year that during the annual Pennhills fireworks display many people parked their vehicles along Minard Run Road.
The following year he decided to invite those drivers to park their vehicles at the church property –– and this year church officials held the first official Freedom Fest.
Freedom Fest took place Tuesday evening, featuring a bounce house with a slide, a Slip-n-Slide, a bean bag toss, a campfire, a horseshoe pit, volleyball and basketball, along with hot dogs, water and cotton candy.
“I was completely blown away by the results (of this year’s Freedom Fest) –– from all the patrons and volunteers,” Jeffrey said. “At one point, I had a small boy come up to me and say ‘This is the best day of my life,’ followed by a small foster child who stated ‘I have never experienced anything like this before.’ It was simply amazing. You can’t top that feeling of seeing all of the smiles upon the children’s’ faces.”
Jeffrey said that the little boy who said Tuesday was the ‘best day of my life,’ also suggested that next year organizers should add a Ferris wheel and paintball. Although those are some high expectations to meet, Jeffrey said that they are already discussing ways to improve upon the event with the possibility of more organized children’s activities and adding to the selection of food.
“We started the event with 200 hotdogs, which were literally all gone in just a little under an hour, so next year we aim to correct that with a larger selection and possibly Snow Cones,” Jeffrey said.
With the first Freedom Fest such an overwhelming success, he said that this event will become an annual event for the church to connect with the community.
Jeffrey expressed appreciation to the volunteers and Pennhills for the fireworks display –– and he praise “God for giving us the ability to give the community a safe, family friendly event for no charge.”
The church did some landscaping, removing trees from the property that had partially blocked the firework display, according to church secretary Jill Ivanich.
