South Salem Presbyterian Church

2005 Memorial Day Fair

The 29th annual South Salem Presbyterian Church Memorial Day Fair was a wonderful blend of hard work, fun, fellowship, and food. The delightful weather brought a large crowd out to grace the church grounds, the race courses, and the town in general on Memorial Day 2005.

Setup

Each year, Memorial Day starts bright and early with a crew who take care of "day-of" setup duties -- setting up tables, helping with the kids game setups, making coffee, coordinating vendors, and on and on.

Skip pulling his weight, and then some

Of course, this is the end of preparations that began weeks ago, with planning, sponsor recruiting, supply ordering, etc.

All of this hard work by many members of the church community, vendors, and neighbors transformed the church grounds and neighborhood into a festive and social environment for the day.

Races

As always, the fair opened with a series of races, all starting at the South Salem Library on Main Street. For those wanting a more moderate workout, there was also a 4.3K walk, where health-wise, everyone was a winner.

Almost 250 runners completed the 5-K, and 111 completed the 10-K. Overall winners were David Mitzi of Mahopac in the 10-K, and Tommy Delaney of Katonah in the 5-K. This was a repeat performance for Mitzi in the top 10-K spot, and Delaney advanced from the runner-up spot in 2004. (click here for full race results).

"Day-of" registration team

Making sure everyone gets the right size

Particpants received T-shirts sponsored by our race sponsors:

Start of the 10-K

Tommy Delaney of Katonah crosses the finish line to win the 5-K

Race results for the 10-K and 5-K races are available here.

David Mitzi of Mahopac stages a repeat win of the 10-K

Many people don't realize how much work is required behind the scenes, both in preparation for the races and preparing the race results -- often with several hundred runners registering just before the start.

Bill Whittemore, 2005 race committee chair, and Gloria from Super Race Systems finalize the race results.

Pee Wee Races a Hit

Children ran in age groupings, with a progressively longer course as the ages increased.

One of the more popular running techniques was to make a beeline for the finish line with head turned in the direction of mom and dad.

Off to a good start!

Children received an official race T-shirt, a race number, and blue ribbon. The Pee Wee Races were sponsored by

• Bacio Trattoria
• Blair’s Lawn Maintenance, Inc.
• C.W. Brown, Inc. General Contracting
• Cross River Animal Hospital
• Cross River Wine Merchants
• Gossett Brothers Nursery
• JNR Pharmacy of South Salem
• Lewisboro Police Benevolent Association
• South Salem Enrichment
• South Salem Center For Language & Learning
• South Salem Nursery School
• Visions Salon Center
• The Casper Family

Food, Crafts, and Games

While the races got underway, vendors and volunteers at the church grounds were busy selling coffee and pastry, and setting up craft displays.

The coffee crew serves it up!

After the races, burgers and dogs were the order of the day, keeping the grill crew flipping and serving the hungry crowd.

Doing the inflatable slide

Making sand art treasures

People

Of course, the Memorial Day Fair is really about people; friends reconnecting, neighbors catching up, kids playing, sharing food, laugter, and good times.

What a ham!