Hundreds of North Bryan residents embraced the chilly fall evening Saturday for games, candy, a movie and more as they gathered in downtown Pembroke for the first-ever fall festival hosted by the Downtown Development Authority and North Bryan Chamber of Commerce.

Children were decked out in their Halloween costumes and on the hunt for candy and games while their parents perused through the goodies of the farmers market.

Sharroll Fanslau, executive director of the DDA, said she was excited to see all the children and families at the event.

“We were extremely pleased with the turnout,” Fanslau said. “The community really pulled together and backed it – we couldn’t have been happier.”

The event included the usual farmers market vendors, bounce houses, carnival games, an outdoor movie and a hayride, which Fanslau said was a major hit.

Five-year-old Trent Jenkins, son of Melissa and Cam Jenkins, was watching both ends of the street as he anxiously awaited his turn on the hayride. Even though he enjoyed the fish pond and bounce slide, he said the hayride was his favorite part of the night.

Connie Messer came to the festival from Statesboro with her nieces, nephews and friends’ children, whose ages range from 4 months to 11 years. She watched her nieces and nephews “go fish” at the fish pond booth and said it was great to see them get so excited.

“I’ve got a lot of nieces and nephews, and I thought it was a good opportunity to spend time with them,” she said. “And I saw the flyer and the event looked really enticing.”

Read more in the Nov. 2 edition of the News.