Mountain Lake Christian (MLC) presented accolades for autumn with HarvestFest 2017, held at the school on Saturday, September 23, with a late afternoon and evening chock full of activities. HarvestFest is geared as a celebration for the surrounding community.
The festival kicked off outdoors with a variety of events punctuated by pumpkins of all kinds, straw bales, face painting, fun skills activities, a harvest backdrop for fun fall photos – and concessions, including grilled hamburgers and hot dogs, plus the trimmings, for a picnic meal. Indoors, a bounce house was set up in the gym.
In the evening, events came indoors, with Lynn Stoneking of Delft in concert, immediately followed by “Mountain Lake’s Got Talent,” all in the school’s Music Room.
Acts in the talent show were performed by:
Abi Renteria.
Zoey Smith.
Eli Johnson and the cast of AIE (“Adventures in Evansville,” a radio theater program produced by Eli).
Meghan Johnson and Tiegan Meyer.
Cristy Renteria and Fairlane Penner.
Dannika Sajban.
Lydia Cavanaugh plus others.
Raina Nowak.
Below are some scenes from this year’s MLC HarvestFest:
MLC PARENT JAMES Dick, right, assists Dannika Sajban, left, in placing her pumpkin of choice in the pumpkin-tossing catapult.
BREN TOUTGES GIVES an assist to Jody Weddle, left, in the tossing of her pumpkin. Observing at back is Cheyenne Courts.
MAKING HER WAY around the straw bale slalom tricycle course is Alayna Kufahl, assisted by her dad, Pastor Peter Kufahl.
JARRELL CARTER WORKS hard to spin the glazed doughnut into a desired position during a skills contest pitting competitors against one another to see who could take the most bites from a hanging pastry in a timed event;no hands allowed.
GOING DOWN ON hands and knees, Cooper Wenner weaves his way through the obstacle course.
ISAAK NOWAK LEADS the way on the obstacle course, hitting the balance beam, while his brother, Teagan Nowak, at back, runs through the tire drill.
MLC DAD MATT Johnson, right, snaps a photo of two of his daughters – Katie, left and Emily, right – peeking through the Harvest Photo Backdrop.
MILANA IVASHCHENKO, LEFT, carefully applies face paint “feathers” around the eyes of Harlie Krueger.
THERE IS ALWAYS room for popcorn. Jack Lepp is busy scooping up and filling bags of the popped corn to be distributed to HarvestFest attendees.
ROUND-AND-ROUND the cotton candy goes. Zadok Ford, right, creates the sweet treat that disintegrates in the mouth, assisted by “flavoring specialist” Abi Renteria, left.
KARIN STOESZ, MLC middle school teacher, tempts with one of a variety of treats for those with a sweet tooth.
GRILLING DUTIES BEING handled by Dr. Michael James, MLC administrator, right. Visiting with the grillmaster are Pastor Peter Kufahl, left and Pastor Daniel Strutz, center.
STRAW BALES PROVIDE perfect seating for Sara Quiring, left, and Elizabeth Linscheid, right, to munch their picnic meal.
THIS GROUP OF children are getting their jiggles out in the bounce house.
LYNN STONEKING, RIGHT, rehearses for her evening concert gig, with a little help with musical direction from Harvest Petersen, left. Lynn Stoneking is a singer/songwriter, wife and mom who grew up singing Gospel music with her family and has now etched her own style – adding Blues and Rock to engage all generations in a “Good Time.”
