Maryland Community Newspapers Online
Victoriously showcasing a batch of homemade brownies Landover resident Nina Walker, 12, went to her mother with her prize after winning a game of musical chairs.
Nina and her cousin Tasia Lewis, 11, of Laurel happily enjoyed the festivities Saturday at Autumn on the Green, which became Autumn in the Gym at the Springhill Lake Recreation Center in Greenbelt due to heavy rain and lack of sunshine outside.
Many families from Greenbelt and surrounding areas came to the festival after stopping to donate clothing, money, food and other items to victims of an Oct. 17 electrical fire at the Empirian Village Apartments on Cherrywood Terrace that displaced 100 tenants.
"We wanted to make donations to the people who suffered in the fire so we brought bags of goodies with us; now we are enjoying the festival," said Nina's mother Virginia Walker.
The festival is a collaborative effort with the city, Empirian Village, Maryland-National Capitol Park and Planning Commission, and Camp Fire USA Patuxent Area Council to get the community out to have a good time, said Julie McHale, assistant director of programs for the Greenbelt Recreation Department.
McHale directed children to sections filled with supplies for pumpkin decorating, cake walking, tie dyeing, temporary tattooing, beaded jewelry making and face painting.
"My pumpkin is fabulous!" said Nyanna Pitts, 8, of Greenbelt as she decorated her pumpkin with purple and pink feathers. "Her name is going to be Cutie Pie because that's my fashion name. I like to design stuff."
Emma Varner, a volunteer at the festival from the National Honor Society of Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Greenbelt, said she felt the festival would be a great independent community service opportunity for the NHS.
"We called and asked to help out," said Varner.
Rosemary Pezzuto, CEO of Camp Fire USA Patuxent Area Council, said the Empirian community needed a respite from dealing with the fire.
"We got tremendous donations on Saturday. The outpouring of the donations from everyone has really catalyzed the community to work together and reach out to the families who lost everything," Pezzuto said. "Hopefully the festival was a respite for fire victims, a chance to have a fun time and not have to worry about anything for awhile."
