Community Corner

From Preparation to Participation, Strawberry Festival's a Family Affair

Pony rides, face painting, classic cars, and lots of strawberry shortcake are planned for Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at New Horizons Village.

Pam O’Neil, who has worked at New Horizons Village for more than 20 years, brought her mother, Leslie Griffin, along to help. Catherine Artibani joined her mother and brought her young son. And Joan Catania, who has lived at New Horizons and helped with the Strawberry Festival almost 20 years, loves the festival because her family comes to visit from upstate New York.

They were among the 52 volunteers working to prepare strawberries and set up for New Horizon’s annual Strawberry Festival, to be held Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

“We bring our whole family here. It’s a great place to work and everybody comes and helps out to make the Strawberry Festival successful,” O’Neil said as she hulled pint after pint of strawberries Friday morning.

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Saturday about 90 volunteers will take their posts grilling hamburgers, serving up shortcake and painting faces.

“They’re friends and family of residents,” Jan Kozlowski said of the volunteers. “It really takes a tremendous effort and a large number of volunteers to make it successful. We’re very grateful to them and to our sponsors.”

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Together they put on a family event that includes free pony rides, a classic cars show, craft booths, games and bands and lots of food. Kozlowski said they use more than 450 pounds of strawberries and volunteers are in the kitchen all day beating fresh, real whipped cream. Strawberry shortcake, some with sweetened strawberries and some unsweetened, is inside, while hamburgers, hotdogs and veggie burgers are on the grill outside. Snow cones, ice cream and cotton candy are also for sale.

Organizers are excited to welcome TV weathermen Bruce DePrest and Joe Furey this year, and the Rock Cats’ Rocky will visit, too.

About 1,000 people usually attend the festival, now in its 54th year. Its start actually helped bring New Horizons Village into existence, Kozlowski said.

“This is how New Horizons got started,” Kozlowski said. “In the 1950s a young woman named Joan Herman was one of the last documented cases of polio.” Kozlowski said the 19-year-old found herself in an iron lung at the Hospital of Special Care in New Britain and began New Horizons.

“She decided to start this organization to give opportunities to people who have disabilities,” Kozlowski said. “It was incorporated and started with this as the signature fundraiser in 1957. There are pictures of her on the lawn of the hospital with strawberries.”

Funds raised during the festival and through the advertisements in the program book go to the purchase of a new van for New Horizons. The village is a residential complex for adults with physical disabilities that provides enough support to allow residents to live independently.

Strawberry Festival Schedule

Crafters: 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Classic Cars: 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.

Children's Games: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Bristol Fiddlers: 11 a.m. - noon

The Sponge Pummels Band: noon - 3 p.m.

Free Pony Rides: 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.

Horse Race: noon

Joe Furey and Bruce DePrest: 11 a.m. to noon

The New Britain Rock Cats Rocky: 11:30

Strawberry Shortcake: 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Hot Dogs/Hamburgers, Cotton Candy/Popcorn: 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.

Balloons/Face Painting: 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.

Magician: 3 p.m.

Raffle: 3:30 p.m.


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