Sean Mills/Special to The Citizen
JORDAN - John Moore has done just about every job there is to do at the Jordan Fall Festival - from parking cars to making the homemade doughnuts.
But the greatest act he ever did was when he volunteered to take a pretty young lady home one evening.
Caroline and John Moore have been together ever since. At the festival on Saturday, Caroline and the couple's children surprised John at the doughnut booth with a party for his 76th birthday.
A former farmer from Jordan, John has been volunteering at the Jordan Fall Festival since it began 59 years ago.
"It keeps me young," he said. "The festival's really growing; everybody is always working together."
Everyone in the main food building sang "Happy Birthday" to Moore, but he just kept on making the doughnuts. After all of his years working at the festival, the one thing that Moore has learned is to not retire.
There's too much life left to live.
Moore has worked at the homemade doughnut booth for about 10 years; his children have worked there for longer.
Daughter Susan Mills has volunteered to make the homemade doughnuts for almost 30 years, and 2005 is her first year as manager of the booth. She and her staff - most of which of also volunteered to make doughnuts for more than 20 years - are up at 7 a.m. making the first batch for the people who come to eat even before the festival opens.
"It's a very physical job," said Mills, who can't quite recall just how long the festival has had doughnuts. "I think it's the most successful booth we have. Everybody loves the homemade doughnuts."
Along with the doughnuts, the festival featured a wide variety of different foods - from curly fries to pies. There were also rows upon rows of craft tables and homemade baubles, as well as a colorful assortment of the traditional fair rides like the merry-go-round or the ferris wheel.
The origin of the festival dates back to the end of World War II, when a local Navy man returned home after watching many of his friends drown unnecessarily. He decided then that the town of Jordan would need a pool so that if any future citizens went to war, they would know how to swim.
The festival was a primary fund-raiser for that effort. Today the funds are used to help organizations around the community, such as the Girl Scouts.
"It's fun working with the little kids," said Cassie Klimek, 15, who worked in the games tent with the rest of her troop.
Klimek and her partner Lizzy Fennessy, 14, had earned their Silver Award for Cadet Girl Scouts by helping to build and paint the brand-new colorful gaming booths for such games as Angry Bees, Catch Ernie! and Ring the Bottle.
But the greatest act he ever did was when he volunteered to take a pretty young lady home one evening.
Caroline and John Moore have been together ever since. At the festival on Saturday, Caroline and the couple's children surprised John at the doughnut booth with a party for his 76th birthday.
A former farmer from Jordan, John has been volunteering at the Jordan Fall Festival since it began 59 years ago.
"It keeps me young," he said. "The festival's really growing; everybody is always working together."
Everyone in the main food building sang "Happy Birthday" to Moore, but he just kept on making the doughnuts. After all of his years working at the festival, the one thing that Moore has learned is to not retire.
There's too much life left to live.
Moore has worked at the homemade doughnut booth for about 10 years; his children have worked there for longer.
Daughter Susan Mills has volunteered to make the homemade doughnuts for almost 30 years, and 2005 is her first year as manager of the booth. She and her staff - most of which of also volunteered to make doughnuts for more than 20 years - are up at 7 a.m. making the first batch for the people who come to eat even before the festival opens.
"It's a very physical job," said Mills, who can't quite recall just how long the festival has had doughnuts. "I think it's the most successful booth we have. Everybody loves the homemade doughnuts."
Along with the doughnuts, the festival featured a wide variety of different foods - from curly fries to pies. There were also rows upon rows of craft tables and homemade baubles, as well as a colorful assortment of the traditional fair rides like the merry-go-round or the ferris wheel.
The origin of the festival dates back to the end of World War II, when a local Navy man returned home after watching many of his friends drown unnecessarily. He decided then that the town of Jordan would need a pool so that if any future citizens went to war, they would know how to swim.
The festival was a primary fund-raiser for that effort. Today the funds are used to help organizations around the community, such as the Girl Scouts.
"It's fun working with the little kids," said Cassie Klimek, 15, who worked in the games tent with the rest of her troop.
Klimek and her partner Lizzy Fennessy, 14, had earned their Silver Award for Cadet Girl Scouts by helping to build and paint the brand-new colorful gaming booths for such games as Angry Bees, Catch Ernie! and Ring the Bottle.
