Woodland Queen Fall Festival to be held at public library

Beginning at 11 a.m. this Saturday, the Montfort and Allie B. Jones Memorial Library will present the Woodland Queen Fall Festival for the first time. The festival will run for two hours until 1 p.m., offering a variety of activities for locals to enjoy. All ages are welcomed to participate, including pets; however, aggressive, unleashed, and raucously barking dogs will not be allowed.

Librarian Heather Hutto stated that activities will include multiple make-and-take crafts for all ages and a special non-craft activity: a cookie decorating station. At the cookie decorating station, each individual will receive their own plate with a shaped cookie, icing, and sprinkles. Additional activities will include fun with cornhole and possibly a special story time event with Ms. Elsie; although, story time has not yet been confirmed. The library will also host a pumpkin decorating contest and costume parade.

For the pumpkin decorating contest, participants of all ages may bring their decorated-at-home or non-decorated pumpkins to the library through Saturday. To prevent pest infestations and odor problems, no carved pumpkins will be allowed. Contestants must be sure to write their names and phone numbers on the bottom of their pumpkins prior to leaving them at the library. Non-decorated pumpkins may be hastily decorated before judging commences on Saturday. A panel of volunteer community judges will judge entries around noon, and the winner will be announced immediately after judging concludes.

Following the pumpkin decorating contest, the costume parade will begin. The library welcomes all ages to participate in wearing costumes, including leashed pets. Parade participants will march around the perimeter of the library. Costumed pets are welcomed to march alongside their owners should owners wish to include them in the festivities. In the event of inclement weather, participants will be allowed to parade inside the library with one caveat: no pets.

With pets in mind and weather permitting, Bristow Barnyard will be bringing some adoption available pets to Saturday’s festival for people to meet. Those pets will be available with the parade and activities in the library’s parking lot.

As she and library staff prepare for the upcoming festival, Heather shared her inspiration for the Woodland Queen Fall Festival, saying “Bristow is a really cute, fun, quirky, little community that I’ve fallen in love with. As librarian, I wanted to make a festival that reflects the atmosphere of the community and set it in the fall. I want this to grow and be a festival that the community can come together and enjoy, growing, perhaps, with artists, vendors, and musicians from around the Bristow area.” As a community, Bristow can share that vision and make it a reality by attending and participating this Saturday.