The Holy Name Fall Festival, which has been a late September tradition for as long as many can remember around here, will be Oct. 24-25 this year—and maybe for many more years to come.
There’s a good reason for that, according to Holy Name School President Julie Eadens.
Eadens said for the past few years she’s been searching for a more credible carnival ride company. She had previously been in contact with Casey’s Rides—the same company that puts on the rides at the Henderson Tri-Fest—and after last year’s festival, Casey’s contacted her with news the company had a weekend open in October.
Now that Casey’s is inked for Oct. 24-25, Eadens thinks the company could be coming back each year. Carnival companies typically continue to go to the same festivals on the same weekends each year, keeping the same schedule year over year, Eadens said.
“One you’re on their calendar, you stay on their calendar,” Eadens said.
So, if it all goes well, the HNS fall festival will stay in October with Casey’s Rides in future years, she said.
Casey’s has promised 10-12 rides for various ages, and they will be set up on the parking lot behind the school, an adjacent grass lot and on North Adams Street, which is the roadway between the school and the current construction area of the city of Henderson’s Fire Station #1, Eadens said.
Beyond the new rides, the traditions established in past fall festivals will continue. Volunteers will be selling food—including the always popular Filipino and Latino delicacies—at booths set up in the gym. Also in the gym, there will be numerous game booths and pumpkin and face painting.
On Friday night, the Holy Name Men’s Club will serve a fish dinner at 5:30, followed by old fashioned bingo at 6:30 p.m. The next morning, the Men’s Club will be up early, barbecuing chickens and pork chops that will be sold all day Saturday.
A newer fall festival tradition is the haunted house, and according to Eadens, its quality is up there with others in the Tri-State, so much so that haunted house hoppers put it on their list as one to go through during the Halloween season. And the crew that puts it together started last school year to get this year’s showing ready.
“They’ve been meeting for months,” Eadens said.
This year, haunted house organizers will be assisted by Matt Gibson, the founder of Terror on the Trail as that haunted venue takes a break this season.
In addition to the other mentioned attractions, the festival will include, a raffle with a top prize of $5,000, a silent auction and a Saturday evening live auction led by Kevin Herron of Herron Auction & Realty.
Eadens said the festival on average raises somewhere between $65,000 and $70,000—though she’s hoping for more this year—and “every bit of it goes right back into the school.”
She said it’s not just for the Holy Name community but for everyone in the Tri-State.
The fall festival will be 5-10 p.m. Friday, Oct. 24, and 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 25, at Holy Name School, 628 Second Street.
