If you go…
What: Marystown Festival
When: Starting at 11 a.m. Sunday
Where: The Church of St. Mary of the Purification, 15850 Marystown Road in Shakopee
Cost: Admission if free; there is charge for food and games

Marystown Fest is Sunday
Ruth Anne Maddox of the Shakopee Valley News reports:

Plenty of fresh air and family time can be found at the annual Marystown Festival on Sunday at The Church of St. Mary of the Purification, 15850 Marystown Road in Shakopee.
The long-running event takes place each year on the third Sunday in August. There is no admission fee, but there is a charge for dinner and to participate in the kids games.

“What’s unique about our parish festival is the fact that it’s way out in the country surrounded by fields,” said publicity chair Carol Diethelm.

She believes the country location lends a hand to the family aspect of the event and offers the perfect setting for the petting zoon and train rides.

In addition to a buffet-style turkey dinner with all the trimmings and a few extras, plus lots of extras (served from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.), there will be a hog roast, hamburgers and snack-shack items available from 1 p.m. until the festival closes.

The country-style smorgasbord dinner can be enjoyed inside the parish center or outside in the dining tent. The meal includes ham, sausage, turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, dressing, coleslaw, corn, fruit salad, dinner roll, relishes and pie. The cost is $9 for adults and $5 for children 4 to 12.

Children 3 and under are free.

After fueling up on the food, stick around for some fun and games.

For the kids, there will be a petting zoo with calves, lambs, kittens and more, as well as a prize tree, tractor train rides, face painting, ring toss and a fish pond, to name a few. And, Diethelm said, when the kids run out of spending money, they can enjoy the playground.

For the adults, there will be a silent auction featuring blankets and quilts (many of which are Amish-made), artwork by the Rev. Jim Schoenberger, a handmade quilt rack, wooden CD hutch and other oak furniture, wooden mailbox, birdhouse, framed photography, gifts baskets and more items made and/or donated by parishioners. Additionally, there will be bingo, a cake walk, raffle drawings (grand prize is $1,000), quilt raffle, country store, pull tabs and a beer garden.

The whole family will enjoy the music by the Czech Area Concertina Club from 4 to 6 p.m.

The festival is lots of fun for guests and lots of fun work for parishioners, according to Father Peter Wittman, the church’s newly assigned pastor.

“Everyone has a job to do,” said Wittman, whose sole task is to pray for favorable weather. “It’s a day when we as a parish all work together to provide fun and fellowship while raising funds to support our parish ministries.”

For more information, call the Parish Office at 952-445-2647 or visit www.stmarypurification.org.

Ruth Anne Maddox is a staff writer for the Shakopee Valley News. She can be reached at rmaddox@swpub.com.