Semmes Fall Festival Raises Money for MGM Students, Puts Shelter Dogs in the Spotlight

SEMMES, Ala. — Birdhouses built by students, a marching band selling specialty sodas, a blood drive and a lineup of adoptable dogs all shared the spotlight at the City of Semmes Fall Festival on Sunday, Oct. 18. The free event, held from noon to 6 p.m. at Mary G. Montgomery High School, mixed traditional fall fun with fundraising for student programs and a push to find homes for shelter animals.

The Semmes Fall Festival drew families for food trucks, games, rides and live music, while local schools, nonprofits and public safety agencies used the day to connect with residents and raise money for their causes.

Students raise funds for FFA and agribusiness programs

Some of the festival’s busiest booths belonged to groups from Mary G. Montgomery High School, home of the Vikings.

Students in the MGM Academy of Agribusiness sold items they made themselves, including birdhouses, fall decorations and merchandise. Proceeds support the school’s career-technical agriscience program and the Semmes chapter of FFA, which is preparing for the upcoming National FFA Convention & Expo.

Emily Dent, an agriscience teacher and FFA advisor at the school, said fundraising opens doors that students might otherwise miss.

“It allows them [the students] to get to be able to do things that they might not normally be able to do because funding might be an issue. We want them to be able to experience whatever they can for as often as they can, whether it’s at the state level, the national level, even here when we do things in the community,” Dent said.

Dent also stressed that agricultural education reaches well beyond the farm.

“It’s more than just farming because anything and everything that we do, whether you’re involved in farming or not, ties back to agriculture,” she said.

FFA, originally founded in 1928 as the Future Farmers of America, is a national student organization that develops leadership, career and agricultural skills through school-based agricultural education programs. Its annual National FFA Convention & Expo, held each fall in Indianapolis, brings together tens of thousands of members from across the country for competitions, leadership sessions, career exploration and recognition of student achievement. Travel to the national convention can be costly for local chapters, which is why fundraising events like the festival matter.

Other MGM groups were also at work. The MGM Vikings Fishing Team sold cold drinks and merchandise and ran a “Flip Pong” game to raise money for the team. The MGM Viking Marching Band offered specialty sodas and a “Human Jackpot” game to support its program.

Shelter dogs get a day out

The Mobile County Animal Shelter brought a large group of adoptable animals to the festival for an on-site adoption event. A shelter representative said last year’s festival resulted in about 16 adoptions.

Even for animals that do not go home with a new family, the representative said, the event is valuable.

“Even if they don’t get adopted today, they get a day out of the shelter,” she said. “Not everyone wants to go into an animal shelter, sometimes that’s not people’s happy place. It can be sad for people and we understand that so we want to show the dogs in the light that they should be. They’re happy, they’re loving, they’re very friendly, and they want to be in a forever home.”

As part of the festival, the City of Semmes sponsored the adoption fee for the shelter’s longest resident so the animal could go free to a good home. This year, that resident is Gigi, a 1-year-old female Staffordshire terrier mix.

The shelter also welcomes donated supplies year-round. Items on its wish list include:

• Leashes and slip leads
• Durable toys
• Towels and blankets
• Dog bowls
• Treats

The Mobile County Animal Shelter will host its next community adoption event, Pet Fest, on Saturday, Nov. 7, at the shelter. The shelter is located at 7665 Howells Ferry Road and can be reached at 251-574-3647. Residents interested in adopting, fostering or donating can contact the shelter for details.

Blood drive meets an urgent need

LifeSouth Community Blood Centers set up on site to collect blood donations during the festival. The nonprofit blood bank, which supplies hospitals across Alabama, Florida and Georgia, said it is in urgent need of O-negative blood. Donors received a Halloween-themed or Breast Cancer Awareness T-shirt as a thank-you.

O-negative blood is especially valuable because it can be given to patients of any blood type, making it the type hospitals rely on in emergencies when there is no time to test a patient’s blood. Only a small share of the population, roughly 7 percent, has O-negative blood, so blood banks frequently put out calls for those donors.

Residents who missed the festival can still give. LifeSouth operates donor centers and mobile blood drives throughout the Mobile area, and eligibility requirements and locations are listed on the organization’s website.

Police, firefighters and family fun

The Semmes Police Department and Semmes Fire Department also had booths at the festival. Firefighters held drill activities, games and educational demonstrations focused on fire safety, giving children a chance to meet first responders up close.

Elsewhere on the grounds, local vendors and food trucks served festivalgoers, and children enjoyed trunk-or-treat, rides and bounce houses. Live music came from High Cotton, a local Southern rock cover band, and a free costume contest open to all ages took place at 3 p.m.

A growing community tradition

Semmes, in northwest Mobile County, is one of the county’s younger municipalities. Residents voted to incorporate in August 2010, and the community officially became a city in 2011. It is named for Raphael Semmes, a 19th-century naval officer who lived in Mobile.

Since incorporation, the city has built a calendar of community events, and the Fall Festival has become a recurring part of that lineup. By pairing free family entertainment with fundraising for students and support for local nonprofits, the festival gives residents a way to enjoy an autumn afternoon while investing in their neighbors.

Mary G. Montgomery High School, part of the Mobile County Public School System, serves students in Semmes and surrounding areas and offers career-focused programs such as the Academy of Agribusiness, designed to prepare students for college and careers.

Residents who want to support the school’s FFA chapter, fishing team or marching band can reach out to Mary G. Montgomery High School for information about upcoming fundraisers and booster opportunities.