“Spring Fling” Fundraiser Saturday May 21st Benefits Pocahontas County Food Pantry

Marlinton, WV – You’re invited to a Spring Fling this Saturday with cake walks, auctions, raffles and lots more; all to benefit the Pocahontas County Cooperative Parish Food Pantry. Sam Felton is the Associate Pastor of the United Methodist Church in Marlinton and he describes what Spring Fling is all about.

“Spring Fling is going to be used primarily as a fund raiser for our Pocahontas County Food Pantry in Marlinton” says Felton. “It was the brain child of Joyce McLaughlin who got to talking about what we could do to raise some money and came up with the idea of a get together at the ARC Building, the old Hanover Shoe Building in Marlinton this Saturday the 21st. It’s an 8 hour event, we’re going to have some cake walks, auctions, music and fellowship and hope to raise some funds for the Food Pantry.”

Felton gives a brief history of the beginnings of the Food Pantry.

“The organization started out in 1975” he says, “and some of the older listeners in the county, my age that is, will remember Reverends Maynard Crawford, Kenneth Montgomery, Sanford Boggs, William Trobridge were very instrumental in starting the Food Pantry. And it’s really a mission project of the United Methodist Church, a covenant between the 21 Churches in Pocahontas County and even our sister church over in Mountain Grove.”

Felton says that they have a working relationship with the Food Pantry in Durbin. Joyce Varner runs that facility out of the basement of the United Methodist Church in Durbin.

Joyce McLaughlin and Bonnie Taylor are the event coordinators. McLaughlin says that in addition to Cakes in the Cake Walks, they be giving away lots of other prizes. She says the support of the local business community has been incredible. She has gift certificates for pizzas, ice cream, merchandize, and all kinds of other goods and services. And there will be raffles, one of which is for a mountain bike.

She says there will be live music for the entire 8 hour event. A few of the local musicians that will be playing are the Hefner Family with Billy, Richard and Jeff, the Viney Mountain Boys, The Cutlips, Doug Scott, Paulo Marks and Family, Lynmarie Knight, the East Greenbrier Boys, Homer Hunter and lots more.

Since it will be held in the ARC Building, the Old Hanover Shoe building, in Marlinton, it will go on rain or shine. Felton says that there will be plenty of time for people to come and enjoy the fellowship.

“It’s going to be an 8 hour schedule that we’ve got from noon till 8 pm Saturday and I want people to understand they don’t have to come and stay for 8 hours, they can come and go 2 or 3 or 4 different times” says Felton. “I hope that folks are having so much fun that they may want to stay for 8 hours.”

Spring Fling will be held on Saturday, May 21st from Noon until 8 pm at the ARC Building on 2nd Avenue in Marlinton. All proceed go directly to support the Food Pantry of the Pocahontas County Cooperative Parish. The Food Pantry is located in the old McClintock House on Tenth Avenue in Marlinton. It is open for food distribution every Thursday from 9 am until noon.