ALBANY, Ga - Shrieking children, some outfitted in festive Halloween costumes, jumped on colorful, blown up bouncies as parents, Marines, Sailors and Civilian-Marines watched.
Music blared from large speakers at a picnic area near Covella Pond, Saturday, as the Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany community celebrated fall.
Dubbed the second annual Harvest Festival, families feasted on barbecue ribs, chicken, pulled pork, hamburgers, hot dogs, baked beans and potato salad, provided by Marine Corps Community Services. They then boarded flatbed trucks filled with hay blocks for hayrides around the base.
Col. Don Davis, commanding officer, Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany, thanked the community for attending as well as the Base Chapel staff, family readiness officers and Enlisted Spouses Club, who hosted the festival.
“Thank you for putting on a great event,” he said as he stood on a flatbed truck before the hayrides. “Enjoy yourselves. This is the day which the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it (Psalms 118:24).”
Relaxing by a huge bonfire, listening to gospel tunes sung by Jazmeen McCann from Gethsemane Worship Center, Albany, Ga., watching their children collect candy from Enlisted Spouses Club members’ who adorned their car trunks and pick-up trucks with Halloween decorations, and roast-ing marshmallows for s’mores ended the roughly three-hour celebration.
“It’s a nice day out here and we’re glad you’re with us,” Navy Lt. Ken Miller, chaplain, Base Chapel, , MCLB Albany, said. “We hope you’ll have a good time, have some good food to eat and make some s’mores. This is an opportunity to celebrate Marines, Sailors and their families. They work hard all year.”
Petty Officer 2nd Class Peter Green, religious program specialist, Base Chapel, described the Harvest Festival as bringing “all of Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany together for camaraderie, unity in a family-fun oriented event. What we hope to accomplish with this event is a sense that the more people come together, the greater Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany can be.”
About 275 people attended last year, the first time the event was held at Covella Pond, he added.
“It was a great success last year at the pond so we decided to have it there again,” Green said.
Sgt. William Hodges, systems analyst, Logistics Capabilities Center, Marine Corps Logistics Command, who attended with his family, portrayed the Harvest Festival as “good friends, family and a good fire. We’ve been here for four years and we try to come every year. We’ve come at least two or three times. They always do a good job. There’s always something fun and different to do.”