Fayetteville Main Street is known for sponsoring “Lunch on the Lawn” on the grounds of the old courthouse in downtown Fayetteville during the spring and summer months. But the Sept. 10 event provided an additional feature to the culinary and musical offerings as a number of elected officials and others participated in the local fund-raiser that had them making a splash in the dunking booth to help raise money for local non-profit organizations.
More than 200 people made their way to the old courthouse for the Friday fund-raising event sponsored by Fayetteville Main Street, the Fayette County Development Authority and the Fayetteville Rotary Club. As usual, it was a noontime event where a leisurely lunch was accompanied by live music.
And then there was the first-ever liquid entertainment. The donation of a few dollars to benefit local non-profit organizations gave the donors the opportunity to see if they could throw a ball, hit the bulls-eye and dunk the various volunteers who sat patiently on a small platform placed just above a large tank of water.
Prior to the Friday event the number of accurate throwers in Fayetteville and Fayette County might have been a closely guarded secret, but all that ended as the volunteer dunkees quickly became water-logged after numerous visits to the dunk tank.
Those taking the dive for charity included Fayetteville Mayor Ken Steele, Fayetteville Police Chief Steve Heaton, former Fayette County Commissioner Jack Smith, Fayette Senior Services Executive Director Debbie Britt, Fayette County Chamber of Commerce President Virginia Gibbs, Fayette County School System Superintendent Jeff Bearden, Fayetteville Rotary Club President Skip Arndt and the practically unsinkable Fayetteville Councilman Larry Dell.
Local organizations that benefitted from the Fayetteville Rotary Club fund-raiser included Fayette Senior Services, Fayette County Youth Protection Home, Fayette County Library, Fayette Samaritans and the Joseph Sams School.
“This was a lot of fun. And it’s not as easy as it looks,” Arndt said, dripping wet. “Rotary is the best organization. All the money raised here goes to local charities.”
Fayetteville Main Street Director Brian Wismer agreed, noting the cooperation between the city and Rotary Club to sponsor the event. As for the dunking tank, Wismer said it was a first for Lunch on the Lawn, adding that, “We would definitely anticipate doing it again.”
In addition to Lunch on the Lawn events, Fayetteville Main Street will sponsor its second Dinner on the Lawn on Oct. 21. Dinner and music will begin at 6 p.m.
