Down-Home Hootenanny: Leadership Lafayette, Oxford Community Market to host inaugural fundraiser

Published 10:30 am Tuesday, June 26, 2018

Leadership Lafayette will partner with Oxford Community Market for its first Hootenanny on Tuesday from 5 to 8:30 p.m.

The Hootenanny will be held at the Old Armory Pavilion on University Avenue, and proceeds will benefit the Harvest Angel program, which provides baskets of fresh food to at-risk families during the Thanksgiving season.

Stuart Povall, a Leadership Lafayette member and local architect, is part of the team that organized the event. In his mind, Povall said the event – and its silly name – will be fun for all ages.

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“Growing up with family parties and all that, we’d call it a hootenanny. I threw the name out there, and [OXCM director] Betsy Chapman loved it,” Povall said. “The way she was describing it was a kind of down-home, fair kind of party, and the name just fit.”

The event will include a sack race, an egg toss, a petting zoo, face painting and live music, as well as food courtesy of two local food trucks. The Hootenanny coincides with the weekly market, which is held on Tuesdays from 3 to 6:30 p.m., so Povall said many vendors will stay open during the event.

With a mixture of free and low-cost events, Povall said the Hootenanny will provide plenty of opportunities to donate to the Harvest Angel program.

“The food trucks will be cash only, and they’re going to give a percentage of their sales. We’ll have various items for sale, and it’ll be a ticket system like a fair,” he said. “We’re going to have a 50-50 raffle as well, so if you buy 10 tickets, another 10 will go into the raffle. Half the pot will go to the winner, and the other half will go to the charity.”

According to Povall, the fun has only just begun.  For the Leadership Lafayette team, he said, the Hootenanny is something they want to carry on for years to come.

For more information, visit https://oxfordcommunitymarket.com.