Exchange Club’s 70th Spring Fling Fair concludes today
Published 9:00 am Saturday, March 12, 2022
- Photo by Angela Cutrer Volunteers with the Brookhaven Exchange Club have been sprucing up the Exchange Club Park, including the Ferris wheel, to be ready for the Spring Fling this weekend.
Even with Mother Nature seemingly confused – nippy cold one day, balmy warm the next – the Brookhaven Exchange Club is still ready to usher in the spring season through its Spring Fling at the Exchange Club Park in Brookhaven.
Carnival games, along with “good family fun,” await you and your family during this annual event. Fair food includes cotton candy, funnel cakes, hot dogs, burgers, iced tea, lemonade and soft drinks, all within the concession stands.
There will be plenty to do in the 14-acre park, with all rides running, including the train, carousel, Ferris wheel, Tilt-a-Whirl, Frolic, roller coaster, big swings, Kiddie Ferris wheel and antique kiddie car ride.
The Brookhaven Exchange Club is celebrating its 75th year in 2022. It began in 1947 and its fair started in 1952, Exchange Club Treasurer Bill Haag said. “Bring the kids ]to this weekend’s fair]. They’ll have a great time. We’re getting things ready and working really hard on it.
“And we’re looking for new members, too, so get the word out.”
A small team of people referred to as the “Friends of Exchange Club” approached Haag, a long-time member whose father was a charter member, about the group supporting the club by spearheading a revitalization project.
“We were invited to one of their meetings and received with a warm welcome,” said “Friends” member Barbara Davis. “They are the hardest working club and the most humble, generous people I have ever met.”
The group decided to do some repairs and renovations, and the game booths now have a brand new look with fresh paint to coincide with the themed look of downtown Brookhaven.
“This is the beginning of the first phase of the revitalization project,” she said. “Very soon we will be selling booth sponsorships – first come, first served. The first booth sponsors will be a special group committed to our community by supporting a historic fair and the vast work of the Exchange Club.”
Davis said she had great memories of going to the summer fair and of all of the kid games like throwing a ping pong ball in a bowl of goldfish, hoping to be the proud new owner of a new pet fish.
“The fair is so nostalgic for so many who went as kids and have since taken [our] own children and grandchildren – lots of great memories,” she said. “We want to revitalize it so it is here for years to come for the community to continue to enjoy and create more memories.”
Saturday, the high is expected to be 48, with a low of 25, so dress accordingly.
There will be no alcohol, no smoking, no vaping and no cursing, organizers remind fair goers. Admittance is $15 for the gate fee and unlimited amusement rides. Parking and admission is free.
Call Brookhaven Exchange Club secretary Margaret Glass at 601-695-3109 or call Haag at 601-754-0861 for more information.