For as long as anyone involved can remember, the Friends of Bolton Mansion have put on some kind of fall celebration around this time of year.
The Fall Festival took place on Saturday. In addition to regular autumn activities such as vendors and various themed games, there were tours of the mansion, a wide variety of food and information from the Friends of Bolton Mansion about the mansion and efforts to continuously restore the mansion and keep sustaining it.
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“It’s well worth it to spend a few hours on a Saturday with your family,” said Gloria Bertonis, a longtime member of the Friends of Bolton Mansion. She has been involved with the mansion for about 30 years.
According to Bertonis, the festival began in prior years as a haunted house put on by members of local high schools. The haunted house ended up getting out of hand, the structure of the house not being able to support the masses that came to partake in the haunt. The festival picked up where the haunted house left off.
“This is a very important building, and we’re trying to save it,” said Bertonis.
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In addition to putting on free events for the community, the mansion uses the events as a way to make money for the overall sustenance of the mansion. The current fundraising goal is for the much needed new roof.
Clayton Kay, the manager of the house, was present and described the crowd as great and explained that events like the fall festival can help to build a volunteer base and make certain jobs easier to accomplish.
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The next public event to look out for in the Holly Hill mansion is the Holiday House that involves a tree lighting and much more.
