Ooltewah Elementary PTA members help organize prizes at the school in anticipation for the fall festival.With caramel apples, pumpkins and cake walks, the Ooltewah Elementary School Fall Festival is about as fall themed as any Saturday afternoon can get, and that's what school PTA president Miranda Perez hopes brings families out to the new school Saturday, Oct. 12.
"This is our first festival at the new school and I really want it to be a community effort," Perez said. "When we were at the old school we only had around 500 students and now we have more than 800, so we hope a lot of families come out."
Since the new school absorbed the students of Birchwood Elementary and some of Snow Hill Elementary's students this fall, Perez said the PTA wanted to bring traditions from those schools into the annual celebration.
Fourth-grade student Aiden Rose, along with other Birchwood students now at OES, knows that can only mean one thing.
"I'm ready for the pig races. They are a lot of fun and I am excited about that," he said.
The races are sponsored by Lucky's Bargain Barn on Highway 58 and feature real pigs.
"It's just one of those things that they loved and we wanted to include," Perez said.
Classes have a chance to raise their own money at the event through a silent auction in which visitors can bid on prize baskets built by the classes. Perez said many local restaurants and businesses will be present, helping sponsor and even donating items for the fun activities.
Inflatables, games, crafts and vendors will be placed all over the campus where kids can win prizes and families can buy food from local vendors - Lupi's Pizza and Southern Burger Co., just to name a few.
"We'll even have our own little version of ESPN where we will give updates on football games to all of the dads out there," Perez said.
The event is open to the public and tickets can be purchased at the door.
"We really want the community to come out here and enjoy this," Perez said. "It's a lot of fun. Many families and people haven't been out to the new school and we really want to introduce this as the new Ooltewah Elementary and a part of the community."