Community at the heart of Marshall County Blueberry Festival day one

PLYMOUTH, Ind. — The first day of Marshall County Blueberry Festival’s 59th year was anything but blue, with thousands of smiling faces coming out to enjoy the shops, classic fair rides, and all the blueberry treats you could imagine.

NightTeam’s Blake Parker spent the day with some festgoers, including Angel Chairez and Luke Poor, 7th grade best friends.

The Blueberry Festival may be heading into its 6th decade, but it was Angel’s first time, while Luke has been going for a few years.

“I smell a bunch of good food, and I see like a bunch of people and rides I just wanna go on, and it’s very exciting… It’s nice to have a friend around like especially if you’re scared of something… it’s comforting to have a friend,” said Angel.

The community aspect of the fair peaks through in many ways, including at Theruwm Church’s booth, Grandma Wendy’s Famous Homemade Blueberry Cheesecake.

Katie Jones, a leader at the church, described the event as having a family-like feel. That’s amplified by their booth’s history. Grandma Wendy was a beloved member of the church who started up the cheesecake booth. She passed away a few years ago.

“This was a big ministry for her to help build our church and to help us with what our needs were in the church ministry. In fact, near the end of her life… she was like ‘you make sure that happens, that gets done, whatever needs to be done for the cheesecake, you make sure that happens, and we did,” said Jones.