Labor Day isn’t about rest for the industrious members and volunteers at the Fountain of Life Center, which drew more than 2,000 people Monday for a smorgasbord of international food, bass fishing and flea-market finds.
Hard work aside, the volunteer-run annual Labor Day Festival is mostly about fun, according to organizer and church member Mary Smith.
“It’s the thing to do, the place to go on Labor Day. It’s a great time. It’s a way for the community to connect,” said Smith, a 40-year member of the nondenominational church on Columbus Road. In its 32nd year, the event draws between 2,000 and 3,000 visitors and serves as a reunion of sorts, said Smith. More than 200 merchandise vendors, food booths and kids’ attractions were set up on the 100-acre campus.
The daylong festival started with a bass fishing contest. Cash awards of $25 were given for the biggest catches in the adult and child categories, won respectively by Jordan Bentley of Burlington Township and Ian Wargo of Florence, and $50 for the most fish overall. Jordan Green hooked the latter prize with 107 fishes.
New festival features this year included pole rentals and bait for the fishing contest, feather hair extensions and deep-fried Oreos in the funnel cake booth. Multi-hued feather jewelry and hair accessories waved in the wind at Debra Wright’s booth. “Everything is feathers now. They’re really popular, especially with the younger set,” said Wright, owner of Lisha’s Beauty Supply in the Grand Marketplace in Willingboro. Deep-fried Oreos were an equally big draw. The cookies get dipped in funnel cake batter, submerged in a vat of sizzling oil and spinkled with powdered sugar.
“Funnel cakes always sell well, so we’re talking up the Oreos,” said volunteer Traci Minard.
The international food selection, served cafeteria-style in the school gym and in various booths in the vendor section, featured Polish, Italian, Southern and South American delicacies and desserts.
Spices are the key to savory Haitian cuisine, according to church member and Haiti native Anne Marie. The law student and Burlington Township resident was serving fried plantains, rice and beans, pork and vegetables and cole slaw.
, black pepper and coconut milk are a few of the signature touches. “When you smell the food, you know it’s Caribbean,” she said.
The key ingredient in the fast-selling empanadas in the South American booth was a little different.
“My heart” is the secret to Manuela Arroyo’s tasty deep-fried beef pockets. The Colombia native, who teaches Spanish at the Life Center Academy, has been making her specialty for 20 years.
The festival reflects the diversity and community-minded nature of the 1,000-member congregation, said Smith.
Giving a piggy-back ride to his 7-year-old grandson, Joe Abate browsed the selection of jewelry, sports jerseys, books, housewares, tattoos, sunglasses and more. The Burlington City resident said he was there mainly to support the church, but some items had caught his eye. “There’s a saxaphone I might still go look at,” he said.
The nondemonimational church opened in 1974 and has more than 1,000 members. The two-building campus includes worship space, a prekindergarten through 12th-grade school and a family life center, which housed 28 evacuees after Hurricane Irene, Smith said.