McADOO - Church picnics, fire company bazaars and community festivals by a variety of organizations were the normal order of the day during the summer months years ago, but many have been discontinued.
Now federal and state funds are at a premium and many of these organizations, especially volunteer fire companies, are scrambling to raise money for buying new equipment and allowing firefighting services to continue.
The McAdoo Fire Company is hoping to recapture those days of large crowds coming out for some good food, entertainment and fun, and is bringing back its summer bazaar after an absence of almost 30 years.
It will be held Thursday through Saturday, featuring the food that people stand in line to buy at Funfest every September.
"We always have people inquiring about how they can buy the fire company's food, so we just felt that now is the right time to have the summer bazaar again," McAdoo Assistant Fire Chief Bob Leshko said. "We're going to try it to see how much support there will be for the event."
In addition to the food from the fire company, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts will be selling hamburgers, cheeseburgers, barbecue and hot dogs, along with fruit cups by the boys and a bake sale by the girls.
"We've been preparing stuff and putting up stands. We'll have a tricky tray stand. We should be ready," Leshko said.
A disc jockey will play music Thursday, with performances by the bands Nail on Friday and North of 40 on Saturday.
Leshko said there is a lot of work involved but it's getting done.
"We've been preparing stuff and putting up stands. We'll have a tricky tray stand. We should be ready," he said.
People attending the bazaar will have a chance to dunk their favorite McAdoo official in a dunk tank, according to Leshko. A fireworks display will be presented at about 10 p.m. on Saturday.
"It's a return to what was done in the past by many organizations and we just decided to be one of those organizations to bring back good food and fun while raising money for the McAdoo Fire Company to buy new equipment," Leshko said. "Our plan is to continue having the bazaar again each summer."