By Ashley M. Casey

Associate Editor

The Baldwinsville Lions Club is creating a new tradition to welcome fall to B’ville. Next weekend, the Lions Club will host its inaugural Craft and Family Fun Fest at Diane Reeves Memorial Park. (See sidebar for more information.)

“It’s a brand-new event to the village that we’re hoping is going to become an annual, family-friendly event,” said Jack Osinski, secretary of the Baldwinsville Lions Club.

The Craft and Family Fun Fest will feature games and activities for kids, live entertainment and crafters from all over Central New York showcasing their wares in a juried show.

“We really want high-quality crafters there, and we got them,” Osinski said.

Among the vendors’ wares will be locally milled alpaca yarn, goat milk soap, intricately decorated wreaths, birdhouses and other local, handmade gifts.

“We have a lady coming from Ithaca who hand paints roof slates,” Osinski added.

While adults ooh and aah over the crafts, kids can enjoy performances by magician Michael Parks, build their own teddy bears or receive temporary tattoos from Julie Cooper of Airfx Body Art.

“This is an event for families. There will be a tent there with games of skills for kids,” Osinski said.

Festivalgoers of all ages can enjoy the dulcet tones of Syracuse-based barbershop group Harmony Katz.

“They are going to have quartets both days wandering the grounds serenading people,” Osinski said.

Guiding Eyes for the Blind will have a booth so festivalgoers can interact with service dogs in training. Supporting programs dedicated to vision health is part of the Lions Club’s mission.

“They will be offering dog chew toys as well as have a couple of puppy-raisers there with their puppies,” Osinski said. “People love to see the puppies. The puppy-raisers are socializing the puppies so it works very well — the people have a good time, the puppies have a good time.”

No festival is complete without food. The Baldwinsville Lions Club is teaming up with Barney’s BBQ of Red Creek to provide barbecue favorites such as ribs and corn on the cob. Barney’s has long partnered with the Lions Club at Beaver Lake Nature Center’s Golden Harvest Festival.

Since the Craft and Family Fun Fest falls in the peak of apple season, the Lions Club has incorporated the all-American fruit into the fun. Volunteers from the Carol M. Baldwin Breast Cancer Research Fund will be pitching in to make apple fritters with cake doughnut batter and cinnamon sugar.

“They’ll be receiving a portion of the proceeds,” Osinski said.

The festival grounds also will feature pink recycling bins to collect bottles and cans for the Baldwin foundation.

Abbott Farms’ cider maker, Robin Meier, has developed a special recipe for apple cider milkshakes. Hickory Hill Ice Cream Stand, located on Route 31, mixed a cider ice cream for the milkshakes.

“She’s developing a certain recipe for us that has a tartness that cuts right through the sweetness of the ice cream,” Osinski said of Meier’s milkshake recipe.

While Central New York’s fickle weather is the bane of many outdoor events, fear not: the Lions are locating all of their fun safely inside tents.

“Once you put up a circus tent it’s hard to miss,” Osinski said.