2Nd Mythical And Medieval Fest Set To Help Abused And Neglected Children
This Saturday amd Sunday, 15 acres of farmland in the heart of the Grand Strand will be transformed into Camelot.
The 2nd annual Mythical & Medieval Fest will take place Saturday and Sunday at RH Acres in Socastee – bringing in knights, pirates, performers of all stripes, vendors and – organizers hope – scads of visitors to this temporary kingdom.
The event is hosted by Caleb’s Dragonfly Dreams [www.calebsdragonflydreams.org], a nonprofit dedicated to assisting children living in area group homes. The organization’s web site sums it up like this: “Caleb’s Dragonfly Dreams is a 501(c)(3) Non-Profit Organization that provides positive events and activities to abandoned, abused and neglected children that reside in shelters and group homes.”
The seed for the organization was planted when founder Shellie Rabon’s son Caleb was about a year old.
“I was playing on the floor with him and I thought – what about all of these abandoned kids in the United States – you don’t ever hear about them. It’s always about kids in foreign countries,” she said.
Rabon took action – first by opening up the phone book and looking up group homes and shelters in Horry County. When she visited a group home, she was astonished to find a number of kids sitting inside the house in the middle of July. She was told that the state paid for their food and clothing, but there was no real funding available for activities.
“I called up some of my friends at Dixie Stampede, and that was our first outing,” she said. “The joy and the smiles on their faces was just everything.”
That was almost eight years ago – and Caleb’s Dragonfly Dreams has been going strong ever since, with Rabon and her volunteers visiting group homes – perhaps tie-dying t-shirts with the kids or heading out to laser tag.
“The activities are a stepping stone. We get to know the kids and their personalities and we become mentors to them, so they know that somebody cares about them and what happens to them in their lives,” she said.
Rabon currently works with group homes such as Waccamaw Youth Center in Conway and Tara Hall in Georgetown.
The idea for the Mythical & Medieval Fest came about out as a way to ensure that the organization can sustain activities year-round.
“I always have to fill out proposals for money,” she said, adding that this takes up time that could be better spent with the children. “I needed something that is going to get me a large sum of money at one time so that I can spent the rest of the year with these kids.”
This year, the event will take place at RH Acres, the property associated with the Bike Week enterprise known as the Rat Hole.
“RH acres is ready to expand into some other events throughout the year that are not necessarily biker-related, such as the Mythical and Medieval Fest,” said venue co-owner Amy Weaver.
She said site is perfect for the festival.
“In the middle of all of this commercial property in Myrtle Beach, we have RH Acres on 15 acres of secluded farmland, nearly, that is quiet and wooded and sort of an oasis in the middle of all the craziness,” she said.
Co-producer Ann Winnard of Over the Moon Productions comes from the world of renaissance festivals, having worked one for several years in Pennsylvania.
In addition to a group of performers – stilt walkers, face painters, hoop artists, fire artists and the like, Winnard said she is holding interactive workshops for theatre, hula hoop and poi dancing.
“We are going to have at least a dozen of our performers out there with our fire shows and workshops,” she said, adding that other outside entertainment will be on hand as well.
She expects to see things come together quickly.
“We put up some walls for our children’s realm we have [volunteers] painting a backdrop for one of our stages. We are doing a lot of the visual art as well – helping Shellie create this vision that she has and bringing it to life.”
Winnard is passionate about the event because she sees this as a way to tie in the local arts community.
“Working with and meeting a whole lot of other arts vendors and music people, and having this timeless event brings in such a large variety of our community. There are so many more artisans and performers able to share their talents with our community by doing this type of festival. At the end of the day, I’m very proud of what we have done,” she said.
The Mythical & Medieval fest starts Saturday at 11 a.m. and runs until Sunday at 6 p.m.
This story was originally published November 3, 2015 at 9:22 AM with the headline "2Nd Mythical And Medieval Fest Set To Help Abused And Neglected Children."