bird & barn is our annual fundraiser to help benefit our mission of supporting, nurturing, and empowering women in our community. This event is set up as a marketplace at the beautiful Black Fox Farms where local vendors showcase a variety of handmade, local, and antique goods.
Earlier this year we weren’t sure this event was going to happen, but through careful planning and constant praying, we were able to provide a safe and enjoyable shopping experience for our 7th Annual bird & barn.
Due to COVID-19 we had to plan for certain precautions to insure our attendees, staff, women, vendors and volunteers were safe. All Free 2 Fly staff and volunteers wore masks during the event and all attendees were encouraged to do the same. We had sanitizer set up throughout the venue, as well as a hand washing station near our food and beverage booths. We accepted less vendors this year to allow for larger booths for social distancing, as well as added outdoor booths in the courtyard.
Last year we introduced our Early Bird Event and due to it's success we knew we wanted to make this an annual part of bird & barn. This exclusive event took place on Wednesday evening from 6-9 pm and required a pre-ordered ticket to attend. Attendees were able to shop all the booths before anyone else, were treated to hors doeuvres catered by Sodexho, and got to enjoy the beautiful Black Fox Farms under the twinkly lights with music from the Lee University Jazz Band. Many took advantage of the ticket perk and brought their husband along for free, it made for the perfect date night! It was a magical evening and we look forward to continuing to grow this early bird event every year.
Thursday, October 22 was our all day shopping event and man did we luck out with beautiful weather. A warm 80 degrees with a light breeze was the perfect temperature for relaxing and eating in the courtyard and shopping. We welcomed 17 local small businesses to join us and display their beautiful products! We had candles, jewelry, home decor, lotions, soaps, clothing and more. The best of the best, all under one roof.
As our biggest fundraiser of the year, we always have a couple booths that benefit Free 2 Fly in addition to our main booth with our handmade products. As always we had our Queen Bud booth with pre-made and build your own boutiques, our Popcorn Bar, and a yearly favorite- The Cake Nest with delicious cakes from The Acropolis. And this year we even added a new booth, the Propogation Station.
This year we were excited to partner with Fork & Spoon, a local restaurant in downtown Cleveland for lunch and dinner. They provided delicious soups, salads and sandwiches as well as a vegetarian pasta dish for dinner. We were thrilled to work with Kim and her staff and hope to partner again in the future.
The bird & barn Committee is made up of Free 2 Fly staff, Board of Directors and volunteers who work for many months to plan this event and we could not do it without them! We are grateful for their time and energy they put into making this event such a success. Pictured above from L to R:
Danielle Winters, Caitlin May, Kendra Rutledge, Alison Douglas
Rachel Praniuk, Tina Turner, Hailey Johnston,
Event Co-Chairs: Cameron Sedgwick & Keenon Hulton,
Brenda Voytik, Kim Brooks, Tami Hicks, Donna Johnson & David Johnson.
This fundraiser is a labor and love we could not do it without the support and hard work of our volunteers, bird & barn committee, staff, community partners, and Black Fox Farms. And to our attendees, your willingness to support our organization and many other local businesses is so appreciated.
Stay tuned on social media and our email newsletter for next year's dates and an exciting announcement you won't want to miss!
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