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There is an easier way to get to the Fall Festival this
year.
There is no need to pay for parking and then attempt to
wrangle the family from one end of town to the festival
activities and then back to the car. For the second year,
Praise Baptist Church is offering free parking and free
shuttle rides to and fromall the festival activities.
Church members performed the service last year and it
went very well, noted James Hooper, a member of the
churchwhohelped organize the shuttle last year.
“Our problemwas that people found out too late to real-
ly use the shuttle,” Hooper said. This year the church
members are hoping to correct that situation with more
signage and publicity. “We want people to know we can
drive them right to the festival activities and let them off,”
Hooper said. “Last year, we timed it, too, and from the time
of the call that there were folks ready to come back to the
church to pick up their cars, it was only 5 minutes. You
couldn't walk to your parking spot in that time.”
The service again this yearwill be free.
A change this year is accommodations for handicapped
riders. Hooper said that in addition to the two small vans
used for transporting festival goers, drivers will have
access to a bus with equipment designed to aid the handi-
capped.
“The effort is simply a public service of the church,”
Hooper said, “We just want to be involved in the communi-
ty. This is awaywe can give back.”
The church, located at 45000 North Territorial Road,
will be open so that there is no threat of standing in the hot
sun or rain waiting for a shuttle. “Last year, we even hand-
ed out bottledwater,”Hooper said.
The vans will not leave anyone standing or waiting,
Hooper said, and will not wait until there is a full load of
passengers before making the short trip to downtown. “If
there are people at the church or at the Forest Street stop,
the vans will take them downtown or back to the church,”
he said.
This year, the downtown stop will be further down
Forest Street than the corner of Ann Arbor Trail in an
effort to avoid any congestion.
“These are experienced drivers who do volunteer driv-
ing for the church, Hooper said. “We just want to get every-
one there safely somore people can enjoy the festival.”
The church was pleased with the participation of the
crowds last year, Hooper said, only the group forgot to
assign the task of counting the passengers to one of the vol-
unteers.
“We knowwe shuttled a lot of people, but we don't know
how many,” he said. He added that will be something they
try to correct this year.
Otherwise, he said, the church group was very pleased
with the way the service worked last year as was Eric Joy,
the festival chairman.
“We're just really pleased to do it,”Hooper said.
FALL FESTIVAL 2014
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The easy way
Church offers free parking, shuttle service during festival