Food, fun served up at festival

KIRKLAND - Fern Meyer handled a rubber spatula and stirred gravy in a tall pot, while Donna Turner dropped in handfuls of sausage. "We're a farming community," Turner said. "You gotta have plenty of sausage." The two women were among more than 20 volunteers helping cook, serve and clean up Saturday morning at the United Methodist Church's Fall Festival Community Breakfast. Turner said she expected to use about 70 pounds of sausage. The breakfast, which is part of Kirkland's Fall Festival, was the first event of the day-long community celebration at Franklin Township Park. The festival included a car show, story telling and pork chops and sweet corn cooked by the Kirkland Lions Club. The church is across the street from the park and early-birds lined up in the church's basement at the buffet style table for biscuits and gravy, eggs and ham, muffins, fruit and juice. Breakfast organizers said they expected to serve around 250 people. Terry Medine and Ty Turner served the biscuits and gravy. "It's been pretty steady," Medine said of the crowd, just as a large group of softball players walked in. A softball tournament also was part of the festival. Leila McKnight of Monroe Center had finished her breakfast and chatted with friends afterwards. She said she likes to support the church, and the food isn't bad either. "Oh, the blueberry pancakes are good, and the egg and ham casserole, that's good too," she said. The pancakes were made to order - plain or blueberry - by Jeff Stott. He stood outside of the kitchen, across the basement and next to a window. His face was red, but he said he likes his job, even if it is hot. "It's my second year doing it," he said as flipped a pancake on an electric griddle. "Usually people do it once, but It's fun. I said I'm going to do it for the next 15 years." He said he gives up his Saturday morning to help serve breakfast because he likes the fellowship of the church and working for a common cause. It is the second year the breakfast is part of the festival, but the church has been serving breakfast on Independence Day for more than 10 years. Each breakfast helps raise money for a good cause. This year the church will send money to a Hurricane Katrina relief fund. Jean Crook, Linda Johnson and Sandy Gustafson cracked eggs and cooked them up with diced ham. The women said they liked sense of community at the church and in Kirkland. "It's a nice small community," Gustafson said. Johnson said the community is growing, but new people are being included in the community. She said she knows the names of many people at her church. Tammy Banks, one of the organizers of the festival, said the festival is part of keeping Kirkland the kind of place it is. "There's new people here, and we're tying to capture that, but trying to keep that small town feel." Aracely Hernandez can be reached at ahernandez@daily-chronicle.com.