WINDHAM — Thousands of people were drawn to Windham High School yesterday for face-painting, performances, good summer reads for sale, and of course, plenty of strawberry shortcake.
"There are tons of people in town that have been baking hundreds and hundreds of biscuits and slicing strawberries," said Stephanie Wimmer, publicity chair of the Friends of the Library of Windham.
Thousands of people turned out yesterday for Windham's 27th annual Strawberry Festival and Book Fair. The fair is FLOW's largest fundraiser every year.
The event is usually held at the Nesmith Library, but the threat of rain moved it to Windham High School yesterday. Wimmer said she thought 5,000 would probably attend the festival by the end of the day. She said the new high school was a good fit for the festival.
"We think of it as a center for our community, and now it's hosting our biggest community event," she said.
A line snaked through the school cafeteria as people patiently waited for a fresh biscuit topped with sliced strawberries and whipped cream. Others were eyeing ice cream sundaes or hot dogs and hamburgers.
For Sophia Madriz, 7, it was all about the strawberries.
"My favorite — I don't know if it's a fruit or a vegetable," she said, pausing briefly before getting a helpful reminder from a friend. "My favorite fruit is a strawberry."
Her friend Isabella Iarocci, 8, had her eye on a different line — the one populated by students awaiting a chance to soak their teachers and principals at the dunk tank.
"My teacher is going to be on the dunk tank, so that's the reason why I came," she said.
Outside, teachers and administrators splashed into a small pool whenever students hit the target — and sometimes when they didn't. Several students ran for the target after three unsuccessful tosses.
Katie Manchester, 9, was looking forward to strawberry shortcake, and her sister Olivia, 8, wanted to get her face painted.
Caroline Pourmand, 8, was also looking forward to having her face painted, and her friend Emma Peard, 8, said her favorite part of the festival was the food.
She tried the fried dough, cotton candy and a hamburger.
Inside the gymnasium, a slew of inflatable attractions like slides and obstacle courses proved a hit with Ty Ham, 7. His favorite, he said, was the "big giant slide.
"It was fun because when I was sliding down, all the way down I rolled around," he said.
He also picked up a few books to read over the summer, since reading is one of his favorite hobbies.
"I already read one whole chapter book, and I'm in the middle of another."
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