There will be much to learn in three hours during Mount Carmel St. Ann’s 4th Friday: Fall Fest on September 22. Put on your thinking caps and come prepared to find out about all the learning that goes on in Westerville and Central Ohio from 6:00 – 9:00 p.m. in Historic Uptown Westerville.
In addition to 100-plus street vendors, food trucks, entertainment and extended shopping hours in the Uptown district, educational groups will be on hand showcasing their programs and garnering community support. Westerville Partners for Education will be near the corner of North State and East Home Streets giving away free books to children as part of the Westerville Book Bonanza. Westerville Education Association member Molly Wassmuth said Westerville City School teachers will be present to meet and greet. “It’s a great opportunity to come together as a community to support one another, have some fun and enjoy some of the best that Westerville has to offer,” Wassmuth said.
Other educational institutions represented will include Oakstone Academy, Hondros College of Business and Otterbein University, as well as local facilities that teach martial arts, fencing, swimming, Irish dance and other forms of physical fitness.
Children will enjoy trying out various arts and crafts activities. In front of Hanby Elementary, located at 56 South State Street, the Arts Council of Westerville will present Passport to the Arts where youngsters can move through a series of interactive visual art activities, including sidewalk chalk and an instrument petting zoo, and get their passports stamped at each station to turn in for a ribbon. Hanby’s PTA will be raffling off prizes and have a registration table for its Bubble Run on October 7 at McNamara Park. This “Party on the Lawn” will also include an open-mic, corn hole and Uno card-playing area for teens.
Teachers and students headed to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands as part of the Westerville City Schools Global Classroom Program will be selling mini pumpkins for kids to paint as part of “Party in the Via” next to City Hall. The Westerville Public Library will be in the Via too with a make and take “book worm” bookmark activity. Or, kids can transform their face into book cover photo art with #bookface props. Mix 107.9 will be in the Via as well.
Entertainment for the evening will include Change It Up Charlie on the Amish Originals Furniture Music Stage. During the band’s breaks at 6:45p.m. and 7:45p.m., the Taoist Tai Chi Society and Fred Astaire Dancers will perform.
The pick-up location for the AAA Ohio Auto Club/Hertz shuttle service will move this month from the Westerville Senior Center across the street to The Point, which is Otterbein University’s STEAM (Science, Technology Engineering Arts and Math) Innovation Center. The free shuttle will leave 60 Collegeview Road every 15 minutes, bring riders up West Main Street to the WVCB office beginning at 6:00 p.m., and will take folks back to their cars until 9:15 p.m. The move coincides with the opening of The Point’s new Maker Space. 4th Friday attendees are invited to tour the facility and see the equipment and tools available for metal and wood projects, lasers, 3D printers, a vinyl cutter and more. The Point is taking new members and training is included. To learn more, please visit www.otterbeinpoint.com.
As a side note to the community, State Street will remain open to traffic during the September 22 event. It was closed during last month’s 4th Friday as part of a test run jointly by the Westerville Visitors & Convention Bureau and the City of Westerville.
Questions about Mount Carmel St. Ann’s 4th Fridays can be directed to WVCB Executive Director Jeff Hartnell or Marketing Coordinator Glenda Mihaly, at 614/794-0401.