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Want to spend a week at a dude ranch? It’s just part of what’s on tap at the Strawberry Festival

MARCY SHORTUSE - It takes around 5,000 hours of work for the women of the Boca Grande United Methodist Church to put together the annual Strawberry Festival. In their eyes, though, it is all worthwhile because of the causes the event supports.

Ellie Young, who is on the festival’s steering committee and is co-chair for publicity, said that each year the event takes on a life of its own. While it varies slightly from year to year, the focus of the event is always the same – to raise money for those in need while getting a chance to have a good time with neighbors.

“Last year we gave away about $70,000 in donations to the 21 recipients we had chosen,” she said. “That was after expenses. When I look at all the items we will have this year, I think we are going to do very well again.”

Young, who was one of the original women who put together the first festival 18 years ago, said it has gone from a rummage sale and ice cream social to something that people look forward to all year.

“Somewhere around the mid point of the festival’s history, Carol Lindenbaum started helping us by soliciting merchants to see if they wanted to donate,” she said. “That was the beginning of the involvement in making it more than a rummage sale. That, in turn, led to the boutique, and that led to putting some of the nicer things we received up for auction. This is our third year for the live  auction, and four years for the silent auction.”

In 2009, 21 organizations received funding, including children’s programs at the Barrier Island Parks Society, The Island School music program, Boca Grande Child Care Center, Boca Grande Community Center children’s programs, Fust Library Children’s Room. Off-island organizations included Catholic Charities of Arcadia, Charlotte County Homeless Coalition, Cuba’s Mission, Dominican Republic missions, ECHO in Fort Myers, For the Love of Kids, HOPE International, and Chara House.

Young said that organizations are chosen by making application to the church and presenting their proposal.

“People are amazed by the broadness of our recipient list,” Young said. “We look at who has the need, and often focus on children and women.”

The auctions will be a focus for many when they hit the festival grounds on Saturday. With items in the live auction such as dinner for 12 at Patrick’s Thai Bistro and Sushi, a day trip on a 43-foot Tiara, a sailor’s valentine seashell table, a cocktail party to go for 12 from The Grapevine and PJ’s Seagrille and two different back bay fishing trips, there are a lot of people already preparing their bids.

Three trips up for bid include a week-long trip to Chappaqua, NY near Rockefeller Preserve to stay in a renovated carriage house and three nights in a Chicago condominium, complete with lunch, dinner and a tour of the city. The third is a one-week stay for four at a dude ranch in Wyoming.

Another item, a Jane Carlson rendition of the beach, was painted just for the Strawberry Festival. A Del-Bouree Bach painting vintage American turquoise amethyst necklace featuring a Ching coin will round out the artistic aspect of the festival’s auction.

“The generosity and support we’ve been given in light  of the conditions we’re all facing and dealing with is amazing,” Young said. “The excitement shown in some of the letters we’re getting from our recipients shines through as they explain how they’re employing their funds. When I read those letters, the essence and the purpose of the event really comes through.”

Young said one such letter, written by Stephen Hartsfield of the United Methodist Children’s Home in Enterprise, Fl., was a great example of that essence.

“He quoted St. Francis of Assisi in the letter,” she explained. “St. Francis once said, ‘start by doing what’s necessary, than what’s possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible.’  When broken spirits find wholeness, when families are reunited and young people begin to see a bright future … that’s what this event is all about.”