LIVERMORE FALLS — The 2nd annual carnival sponsored by the Livermore Baptist Church was an opportunity to bring the community together and provided some surprises too.

Rev. Russell Thayer of Thompson has been the church’s interim pastor since the first of June. He said he expects to be at the church until a fulltime pastor is called, probably in six months or so. This is the fourth time he has served as an interim.

“I have retired four times so far,” he said. “I have given up on retiring.”

Thayer comes to Livermore Falls on weekends and for emergencies. It is about an hour drive one way, he said.

Ricky Merrill of Jay was the carnival organizer. He sat in the dunk tank and had been “dunked” at least 10 times in the first hour or so. “It is all for a spirit of fun,” he said.

“There was a bigger crowd at the beginning today,” Merrill noted.

“The whole purpose is to give the community an event where they can get out and have fun,” Merrill said during a break in the action. “A lot of the events are free, we are trying to cover the cost to have the bounce house and the dunk tank here. It is all about community togetherness, getting the community out and about as well as fostering a love of our Lord.

“Plus the parishioners get to show what good bakers they are with the pie raffle!”

The carnival was held at the same time of year last year, he said.

Carnival goers were given a bag containing a flyer about the church plus free coupons for a bottle of water and a bag of popcorn. There were several games for children to play plus cotton candy, sno cones, and hotdogs to enjoy. The church sanctuary was open for visits.

Kelly Goodwin of Jay was seen swirling a paper cone round and round the cotton candy machine. When enough spun sugar had collected, she passed it to daughter Ava Goodwin. Sister Madison Goodwin enjoyed the treat while Kelly poured sugar into the machine to start the process again.

Merrill said he was very thankful for the VFW, its auxiliary and color guard participating. “The carnival couldn’t take place without all the help of the parishioners who put a lot of hours into it,” he noted.

Gail and husband John Dube of Jay were at a booth selling items for Jay VFW Post 3335. Gail proudly spoke of a Quilt of Valor presented to John during the State VFW convention held June 11 in Auburn.

“Seven quilts were presented at the convention,” she said. “To watch them be presented – they were wrapped around the person’s shoulders – was moving. John had his head down when he came back to his seat and asked, “What did I do to deserve this.””

Proceeds from sales at the VFW booth Saturday will go towards the purchase of materials for future Quilts of Valor, Gail said. “There are some wonderful people who donate material,” she added.

According to the Quilt of Valor website history page, the program began in 2003 after Catherine Roberts of Delaware had a dream while her son Nat was deployed in Iraq. The message of her dream was: Quilts = Healing. One volunteer pieces the top while another quilts it. A Quilt of Valor must be quilted, not tied, which means hand or machine quilting. It is “awarded,” not just passed out like magazines or videos, and says unequivocally, “Thank you for your service, sacrifice and valor in serving our nation.”

The website notes the first 300 quilts were donated in Nov. 2003 to patients at Walter Reed Army Medical Center with half presented to the physically wounded and the rest awarded to those struggling with psychological/emotional trauma and distress. The 300,000th quilt was awarded on April 20, 2022, according to the website.

Church member Byron Bean later shared memories of delivering the Livermore Falls Advertiser when he was 14 or 15.

“I delivered the papers for Kenny Mann who taught school here for about 30 years,” Bean said. “I had 115 customers, started out on Park Street, ended up in Chisholm. The Livermore Falls Advertiser was four cents. That was back in 1947 or 1948.”

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