Lanham event an opportunity for community to come together

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Lanham event an opportunity for community to come together

by Anya Bergman | Special to The Gazette

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Uncle Sam impersonators, gospel singers and adults fanning themselves in the grass while their children ran to buy a hot dog were among the sights at the seventh annual July 4 event held at Trinity Assembly of God in Lanham July 3.

This year’s celebration, ‘‘Land of the Free,” held for the first time this year in conjunction with the Lanham Boys and Girls Club is an alternative for the community to come together instead of going into Washington, D.C., said Brentwood councilman Roger Rudder (At-large), who attends Trinity church and was part of the security team at the event.

Trinity church children’s pastor Jonathan Woodard who served on the organization committee of the fair said the church holds the event on July 3 because the unique date, not July 4, attracts a large crowd. July 3 is a large event and July 4 is spent with family, Woodard said.

According to Woodard, the celebration started after the church saw a decline in attendance during the summer months, which is typical for many churches whose members go on vacation. Average attendance is 280 adults and teens and this number fluctuates in the summer, he said.

Woodard said the festival brought a ‘‘surprising amount of people” from its inception, and filled a community need for a large local event, with families from many different areas.

This event is ‘‘more of a family type thing,” Rudder said. ‘‘Kids and adults have something to do and something to enjoy.”

The church expected around 8,000 participants from Lanham, Greenbelt, New Carrolton and Hyattsville and other surrounding areas, he said. Although exact numbers are not certain, Woodard said he believes this year’s attendance exceed the predicated 5 to 7,000 members who attended last year.

In addition to fireworks, raffles, food concessions, moon-bounces and face painting, the fair was also an opportunity for area Christian groups to sell merchandise and promote their organizations.

Manuela Arevalo, a member of the Foursquare Church in Brentwood, manned a kid’s table where she painted faces and handed out bookmarks with quotes from the Bible.

Arevalo said the fair is a chance for the Latino members of her church to come together and become united with other members of the community.

Local musicians who performed at the fair used the opportunity to sell their albums. Robert Persons, an independent gospel artist from Washington, D.C. said that he attended the event to praise the Lord and that his role is ‘‘just serving the Lord through song.”

Other performers included CRAVE, a youth worship band, Tre Thomas, Kendell King, Iglesia Calvario and Annette Linton.

Nine-year old Monica Rouse who joined her friends Shayla Ector, 8, and Alex Sullivan, 7, at the fair said Independence Day was her ‘‘favorite holiday.” All three girls said they enjoyed the moon-bounce best.

Lanham resident Dare Nwake, whose daughter napped on her lap in an effort to escape the heat, said she sometimes visits Trinity church with her sister-in-law who is a member. The event has good people and is ‘‘nice for kids,” she said.

The event ‘‘was a success in that the community is pleased,” Woodard said.