Festival showcases what post has to offer Soldiers, Families, community

By Flavia Hulsey, Fort Riley Public AffairsSeptember 24, 2010

Festival showcases what post has to offer Soldiers, Families and the community
1 / 6 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Cpl. Carl Dreis on MacArthur, left, and Staff Sgt. Robert Young on Jack, right, complete a jump during the Commanding General's Mounted Color Guard cavalry demonstration at Fort Riley's Fall Apple Day Festival Sept. 18 on the Artillery Parade Field, ... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
EOD showcases weapons, bomb suit, robots to public
2 / 6 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Maggie Egbert, 7, gets some assistance holding a Russian rocket launcher from Staff Sgt. Katherine Trafton, an EOD technician with the 630th Ord. Co., 84th Ord. Bn., at the EOD display booth while friend Maika Lemusa, 5, and Maika's mother, Amy, look... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Festival showcases what Fort Riley has to offer Soldiers, Families and community
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Festival showcases what Fort Riley has to offer Soldiers, Families and community
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Festival showcases what Fort Riley has to offer Soldiers, Families and community
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Festival showcases what Fort Riley has to offer Soldiers, Families and community
6 / 6 Show Caption + Hide Caption – The Historical and Archealogical Society of Fort Riley's tent was packed Sept. 18 during Fort Riley's Fall Apple Day Festival selling more than 2,040 apple pies. A line formed in front of the tent while people placed orders and waited to pick up thei... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

FORT RILEY, Kan. - The roar of machine guns was matched by the laughter of children and Families as they enjoyed all Fort Riley has to offer at the 2010 Fall Apple Day Festival. More than 8,500 people gathered on Artillery Parade Field Sept. 18 for the annual celebration.

Brad Carlton, recreation program manager with the Directorate of Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation, said the event was "absolutely fabulous" with great attendance and great attractions.

Activities at Fall Apple Day included apple pie sales, an All-terrain Vehicle rodeo, Commanding General's Mounted Color Guard demonstrations, a community health experience booth, a fire and rescue display, military working dog demonstrations, a laser and miles range, mule rides, an obstacle course, a paintball range, period re-enactors, static displays and an expo tent with vendors from the local community and programs from Fort Riley providing information to attendees.

"We are keeping the promise to provide quality programs and safe communities that meet the needs of Soldiers, Families and Army civilians," Carlton said. "Not only is Fall (Apple Day) Fest entertaining, but the many hands-on venues encourage interaction within Fort Riley and with our surrounding communities. And, the festival highlights the many recreational opportunities and services that are available to our Army Families and single Soldiers."

The vice president of Better Opportunities for Single Soldiers, Spc. Jason Sansom said he enjoyed all the festival had to offer.

"Fall Apple Day is an excellent way for Soldiers and Families of Fort Riley to come out and see what all Fort Riley has to offer through vendors and everyone through MWR as well," he said. "It gives them a chance to come out and take advantage and see all the tactical vehicles that their spouses might be using. It gives them a quick hands-on 'this is why I go out to the field, and this is what I do' because a lot of Families don't get the opportunity to see what their Family member actually has to do."

In addition to Family members, community members at the event also got a taste of what a day in the life of a Soldier is like.

"It's events like this that really kind of tie the local community, and they put a face with the Soldiers ... this gives them a chance, the tax payers, to come on Fort Riley, see and touch where their tax dollars are going," said 1st Inf. Div. Rear Command Sgt. Maj. Darrell Wallace.

Fall Apple Day also allows Soldiers the opportunity to interact with the community - to "show off what they've learned and what they've learned to do," Wallace said.

"Fort Riley doesn't belong to us - Fort Riley belongs to Kansas," he said. "We are an installation. We have your aviation brigade; we have your tanks. This is all your stuff. It's just we maintain it, we care for it and we take it to work."

Between the static vehicle displays and the expo tent, was a stage where singers and bands entertained the crowd.

M-31, the featured act, is a rock band that plays "top 40 from the last 40 years," said one band member.

"M-31 is an excellent band, Sanson said. "They hit a little bit of everything. It's something for everyone."

Staff Sgt. Coey Lance "CJ" Jones, the band's lead singer and a Soldier with Company D, 1st Battalion, 5th Field Artillery Regiment, 1st Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 1st Inf. Div., said this was the first time his band played in front of Soldiers and their Families.

"It's special," he said. "I know that they're going to enjoy it because we've got great music for them."

M-31 plays around Manhattan and the surrounding communities almost every Saturday, Jones said, adding he enjoys playing music as a change of pace to his busy life as a Soldier.

"We came out here today to enjoy the festivities of Apple Day and to play some good classic rock for everyone," he said.

Among other performers were Fort Riley contestants from the 2010 Operation Rising Star, including winner Justin Black, military Family member.

"It feels good to perform for the Families," Black said. "It feels good to get out there and be known because this is the career I want to go into."

Black, who hopes to one day become a recording artist, sees Operation Rising Star and the performance opportunities it allows as a foot in the door for his "dream job."

It was Black's first time attending Fall Apple Day.

"'I'm excited about today. I'm excited about everything because I've never been to one of these, and I've lived in Junction City for awhile," he said.

The event ran from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

"I've been in 30 years, and I've seen this in no other installation I've been on," Wallace said. "What we do here, no other post does. "