Berry festival draws hundreds

Good prices and a good cause brought hundreds of people out to the 13th annual Teen Challenge Strawberry Fest on Saturday. But those weren't the only reasons.

"The berries are wonderful," said Nan Robertson, a retired music teacher from Illinois.

Teen Challenge International of Mid-America, the local organization that grows the strawberries on a 263-acre farm north of Cape Girardeau, ministers to men through pastoral counseling, Biblical studies, a work experience program. The strawberry festival is part of the work experience program, and the money made from the sale of the strawberries goes back into the ministry.

New to the festival this year were silent and oral auctions led by Barks Auction Service.

"The idea for the auction came about as a way to break even or make a small profit at the festival which mainly promotes good public relations," said the Rev. Jack Smart, executive director of Teen Challenge.

"We knew about Teen Challenge and we support it," said Dara Bennett, who recently moved to the area with her family from Nebraska. She had a brother-in-law in the program, and her husband, Earl, once participated in a Teen Challenge fund raiser in Nebraska.

Tours of the facility were given during 20 hayrides throughout the day. Included in the tour were the strawberry fields where for three weeks a year -- four weeks in some years -- Teen Challenge members pick the strawberries.

"We also got free strawberries on the hayride," said Gus Winchester of St. Louis, who attended the festival with his mother, grandmother and siblings.

The Winchester family also won two quarts of strawberries, which were given away every 15 minutes.

Handmade furniture for homes and churches, household items and wooden crosses fashioned from sassafras and oak were displayed along the route to the concession and entertainment area.

Established in 1958 by David Wilkerson, Teen Challenge has grown to more than 150 centers in the United States and 250 centers worldwide.

Robertson, the retired teacher, said she met Wilkerson years ago and "told him we need you so badly in Cape Girardeau. The next thing I knew a Teen Challenge was being organized here."

Ground was broken on the donated farm in 1969, and the program started the following year.

cpagano@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 133