{"id":2612,"date":"2008-10-30T19:38:50","date_gmt":"2008-10-30T19:38:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/?p=2612"},"modified":"2010-12-22T11:58:15","modified_gmt":"2010-12-22T16:58:15","slug":"6670","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2008\/10\/30\/6670\/","title":{"rendered":"Fun Fest Draws 3,000 People, Lots of Laughs"},"content":{"rendered":"

SANTA ROSA, CA (October 30, 2008) – Three thousand people showed up for Redwood Covenant Church<\/a>\u2019s Fun Fall Fest on Saturday night.
\n
\n\u201cWe had a little party,\u201d jokes Scott Peterson, pastor of children\u2019s ministries. \u201cI\u2019m wiped out.\u201d<\/p>\n

The numbers are staggering. Attendance at the event was more than double the 1,200 people who weekly attend services. The church first sponsored the event 13 years ago, when roughly 500 people attended, says Peterson.<\/p>\n

The church gave away 2,000 pounds of candy and 600 toothbrushes (dentists donated the toothbrushes). The congregation also awarded nearly 600 cakes as prizes in the cakewalk. \u201cThe kitchen just reeked of frosting,\u201d Peterson says.<\/p>\n

\"Fun\"The church puts 400 volunteers to work. Eight people help organize. And they meet only a handful of times throughout the year. \u201cEverybody has been doing it for so long, and they know their jobs,\u201d Peterson says.<\/p>\n

The Fun Fest replaced a Halloween alternative event that the church had held for years, but which attracted only 40 or 50 people. That required too much work for too little attendance, Peterson says. Ultimately, he says, \u201cWe decided if we are going to do something, we would do it in a big way.\u201d<\/p>\n

The event is held inside and outside the church. Inside the church, kids go from room to room and play various games. \u201cMost of them involve throwing something,\u201d Peterson says, laughing.<\/p>\n

The games also include a large Operation Ole, based on the old game in which participants try to remove comical ailments. \u201cThere are even big metal tongs, and the game buzzes,\u201d Peterson says.<\/p>\n

Outside, kids can play in any of the 10 inflatable bounce houses or games. The kids can play on the inflatables all night with the purchase of a $5 bracelet. Redwood also sells concessions that include nachos and pulled pork.<\/p>\n

Money from the concessions pays for the event. The church budgets $10,000. Last year, it wound up just $49 in the hole, Peterson says.<\/p>\n

The church does not distribute literature or have any prominently displayed, Peterson says. \u201cOur purpose is to serve the community,\u201d Peterson says.<\/p>\n

Although the church does not directly evangelize, many of the visitors return to attend a service. \u201cIn the newcomers\u2019 class, some of the people even say that the first time they ever attended a church was at the Fun Fest,\u201d Peterson says.<\/p>\n

The event has grown only by word of mouth, Peterson says. \u201cWe don\u2019t do any advertising.\u201d Many visitors don\u2019t even know of the event until they are on the nearby highway and see that it is being held.<\/p>\n

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SANTA ROSA, CA (October 30, 2008) – Three thousand people showed up for Redwood Covenant Church\u2019s Fun Fall Fest on Saturday night.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2612","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nFun Fest Draws 3,000 People, Lots of Laughs - Covenant Newswire Archives<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2008\/10\/30\/6670\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Fun Fest Draws 3,000 People, Lots of Laughs - Covenant Newswire Archives\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"SANTA ROSA, CA (October 30, 2008) – Three thousand people showed up for Redwood Covenant Church\u2019s Fun Fall Fest on Saturday night.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2008\/10\/30\/6670\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Covenant Newswire Archives\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2008-10-30T19:38:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2010-12-22T16:58:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.covchurch.org\/uploads\/MA\/U7\/MAU7gFZzH_L5qWbh8996FQ\/Fun-cover.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2008\\\/10\\\/30\\\/6670\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2008\\\/10\\\/30\\\/6670\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2a26f1b1df304098ad9cbae0bbf2c6e8\"},\"headline\":\"Fun Fest Draws 3,000 People, Lots of Laughs\",\"datePublished\":\"2008-10-30T19:38:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2010-12-22T16:58:15+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2008\\\/10\\\/30\\\/6670\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":425,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2008\\\/10\\\/30\\\/6670\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.covchurch.org\\\/uploads\\\/MA\\\/U7\\\/MAU7gFZzH_L5qWbh8996FQ\\\/Fun-cover.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2008\\\/10\\\/30\\\/6670\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2008\\\/10\\\/30\\\/6670\\\/\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2008\\\/10\\\/30\\\/6670\\\/\",\"name\":\"Fun Fest Draws 3,000 People, Lots of Laughs - 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