A local church is inviting the community to join it for a day of fun, family and fellowship at its annual Harvest Festival.

St. John Church of Christ will host the festival on Oct. 11, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and is inviting community families to bring their children for a variety of games and activities, said Mary Batts, event chairwoman and church member. The event will feature games like horseshoes, an egg race, musical chairs, cornhole, face painting, a cakewalk and bounce houses. There will also be a variety of food, including fish chicken, sausage dogs, corn on the cob and popcorn, Batts said.

Several organizations will be in attendance as well, Batts said. Boy scouts and girl scouts will be there to sign up children who wish to join; a bike rodeo will be conducted to teach children about bike safety; and the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office will also be in attendance. A yard sale will be going on in the front yard of the church, as well.

“We’re hoping we’ll be able to entice adults to bring their kids in to the festival,” Batts said. “It’s really going to be a fun time if people can make it.”

Batts said each child will receive a card with a list of 20 items upon entering the festival. The children will receive a small prize for each activity in which they participate, a medium prize for participating in half or more of the events and a big prize, such as bike helmets, t-shirts or stuffed animals, if they participate in all 20 activities. Each activity requires tickets, which can be purchased for 25 cents. Most of the activities require two tickets, Batts said.

“Our pastor says when you embrace a child, you embrace a family,” Batts said. “The idea is to create a family atmosphere to keep everybody entertained plus learn how good God is. So we’re really trying to embrace the families in Beaufort County.”

Admission for the event, which is sponsored by the church’s women’s ministry, requires two cans of vegetables — green beans, corn or peas. The vegetables that are collected will go toward the church’s Thanksgiving ministry initiative, Batts said.

According to the church’s pastor, Russell Wilkins, the church gives out Thanksgiving baskets each year to needy families. The third week in November, the church will distribute the boxes, Wilkins said.

“We are asking those that would come to the festival bring at least two, 15-ounce cans of vegetables, corn or string beans,” Wilkins said. “What will happen is the third week of November, we’ll gather what we collected, and we’ll serve it in the community as we’ve always done the past several years. We’ll distribute 100 boxes of food to families in the community. We always make sure there’s a turkey in that box, too.”

Batts said some members of the church have already donated canned goods so some of the children who would not normally be able to come, can attend. Also, those children who attend the festival will also receive a free bag of candy.

“We recognize that everyone cannot afford to go trick-or-treating,” Batts said. “We’re going to have candy bags for kids at the end. Our church donated the candy so we’re going to make sure everyone gets a bag if they come.”