NORTH BRANFORD

Located in the heart of Northford’s village center, Northford Congregational Church (NCC) stands ready to draw the community together with its first summer festival featuring food trucks, local craft vendors and kids’ activities.

The public is invited (and encouraged) to gather friends and family, bring a lawn chair or blanket, and spend some time on the beautiful church grounds at the two-day festival taking place Friday, Aug. 21 from 4 to 8 p.m. and Saturday, Aug. 22 from noon to 8 p.m., where the scent of festival foods including fried dough pizza, hotdogs, and hamburgers will mingle with the offerings of food truck treats including Sugar cupcakes (Friday only), Keifer’s Kettle Corn (also serving Italian ice and fresh-squeezed lemonade), Joe’s Ice Cream ,and Art’s Curly Fries (also serving mozzarella sticks and chicken nuggets). Admission and parking are free; event proceeds benefit NCC.

Many community and business sponsors have signed on to assist NCC in making the Summer Festival a success. NCC pastor Reverend Kathryn King said the small congregation has been hard at work to bring about its inaugural summer festival, not only as a fundraiser for the historic church, but also as a way to connect with the community.

“It is in the center of the community and a place we do see every day, but I think for a church to survive in this day and age it has to be able to connect with its community, and become relevant to the community around it,” said King. “A festival gives the chance for both the community and the congregation to connect with each other and get to know each other better than they have so far.”

As part of the festival, community members can add a flag to a Tibetan-style community prayer flag NCC is building and will hang in a prominent outdoor location on the grounds.

“They can write a prayer of their choice and each one will help to make it a community prayer flag and when they see it, they can remember having done that and know that their prayers are with others. So it’s another way we hope to connect the community with the church,” said King.

The small congregation has been raising funds to maintain the building while also working to continue to raise funds to remount the bell tower’s cupola, which was taken down due to structural failings caused by a shift in the stone tower in 2010. King noted the structural engineer who determined the tower was faulty in 2010 said it would not withstand a hurricane. It was taken down just about one year ahead of Tropical Storm Irene and two years ahead of Superstorm Sandy.

“The bell tower has been a slow process as we’re having to raise every dollar,” said King. “Some people are not aware of the fact that all the funding we’re generating is done internally, and we have a very small membership, so we’re constantly trying to raise money to get it put back up and we’re always trying to come up with innovative ideas on raising funds. So it’s a slow process, but it’s much further along now.”

More important, said King, the Bell Tower Committee has community members involved who offer “energy and ideas.”

“It’s another way for us to connect with the community,” she said. “We’re constantly trying to find ways to do that and that’s why we’re really excited about the Summer Festival. A lot of the vendors who will be there are local craft people, too. So we’re creating an opportunity to utilize the beautiful space we have and provide a showcase for local vendors, and to invite everyone to get involved in a location in the community that is so incredible and such an asset.”

Northford Congregational Church Summer Festival to benefit the church is on Fridy, Aug. 21, from 4 to 8 p.m. and Saturday, Aug. 22, from noon to 8 p.m. The historic church (203-484-0795) is located at 4 Old Post Road at the corner of Route 22 and Route 17 in the Northford section of North Branford.