Event pulls Tharptown community together

By Staff
Nathan Strickland
THARPTOWN – The community flooded the Tharptown High School football field Saturday as Tharptown Baptist Church organized their second annual community-wide picnic Saturday.
The event featured live entertainment, cotton candy and an inflatable playground for the children.
Tharptown Baptist Church music director Jamie Kiel said the event brings the whole community together.
"The purpose of our community picnic is to make connections with people," he said. "It gave our folks a chance to get to know the community and provide a means of service with no expectations in return."
Last year around 1,000 people attended the big event and this year's numbers added up to be a little more.
Tharptown Baptist Church pastor Josh Miller said it is just a blessing to be able to reach out to the community.
"This was a big push for us to get the gospel out," he said. "We had guys every 30 to 45 minutes randomly stand up in chairs preaching little mini sermons. It was great."
Tharptown Baptist hopes to continue this event in years to come.
"We hope to be a key resource to the community, not just for this event but throughout the entire year," Miller said.