SUMTER, S.C. — Stilt walkers, live musicians and local artists came out to Memorial Park in Sumter for the annual Art in the Park, which was Earth Day-themed this year.
Admission to the event was free for adults and children like Yani Hill and her 7-year-old daughter I'Anna.
"I love it. I love all the kid activities that they have," Yani said. "It makes me feel good to know that Sumter is doing something nice for their people."
It is the biggest annual fundraiser for the Heart of Sumter Neighborhood Association, which works to preserve, protect and promote the historic area near downtown Sumter.
Cleo Klopfleisch is the president of the association and the chair of the annual event. She says the money is raised through fees collected from vendors and all the beverages sold at the event.
"All the money goes back that we raised back into our neighborhoods to help our resources like Patriot Hall, the art gallery, the Sumter Little Theater, the museum, all of those are right here in this hidden gem Heart of Sumter Neighborhood Association," Klopfleisch said smiling.
In addition to local artists with booths, non-profit organizations set up tents to connect the community with resources. Some groups, like the Palmetto Optimist Club, also served food to raise money for the non-profits.
"Optimist Clubs are in 28 different countries around the world," Optimist International President Tracy Huxley said. "And each club is autonomous, so they do within their community what their community requires or needs, what's not being picked up. So in some communities, it might mean that it's like the Reading in the Park and the Art in the Park."
At one section of the park, the club hosted "Reading in the Park," where children could pick out free books and listen in on storytime.
"The Palmetto Optimist Club has had books donated and donated and donated and they were approached to be a part of Art in the Park to bring in the Reading at the Park. So they come in here they have all these enormous donation boxes from the community," Huxley said. "It is incredibly important and access to books is maybe not always there, as well as just a rotation of books. I mean, we all know we listen to different radio stations or podcasts and we look at different things on the TV and the same thing happens with books. It's really exciting to sit on the other side of this table and watch children say 'Oh my gosh, they're free? I can take more than one?"
For kids like 6-year-old Cadence Bradley, having the chance to come out for free books, face painting and music made for a day well spent.
"All I like is that you get to chill, have fun," Bradley said. "And there's like a playground where kids just get to play and have fun, all that stuff."
Seeing attendees like Bradley enjoying the day was exactly what Klopfleisch said she was hoping for.
"I am so happy. I'm going to start crying," Klopfleisch said, emotion clear in her voice. "We have such diverse folks. We have grandmas, grandpas, children, babies, dog walkers. The diversity here is just amazing. And that was something we wanted to do: to bring everybody, everybody into our small neighborhood."