Christ Church Cathedral Strawberry Festival, June 13, 2019 @cccathedralindy

“The Works” at the Christ Church Cathedral Strawberry Festival.
AroundIndy.com staff photo, (c) 2016,  all rights reserved.

By Elise Shrock
On behalf of Christ Church Cathedral

The Cathedral Women of Christ Church Cathedral will hold the 54th Annual Strawberry Festival on Thursday, June 13, 2019, on Monument Circle in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana. Traditional strawberry shortcakes will be offered for sale from 9 a.m. until 4:00 p.m., or until supplies run out. Carryout opens in the church basement at 8:30 a.m.

The “Works” costs $7 for a treat of homemade shortcake, strawberries, ice cream and whipped topping. Single items are available á la carte for $2 each. Cash only.

More than 95% of all proceeds go directly to charity. In 2018, the Cathedral Women donated over $70,000 to non-profit organizations.

“Extending the hospitality of our parish outside of the cathedral walls and into our community hits right at the heart of our work at Christ Church Cathedral.” explains the Rev. Lauren Grubaugh of Christ Church Cathedral. “The Strawberry Festival is a big party and a treat for the whole city. But the true heart of the festival is the fundraising component. Nearly all proceeds go to organizations providing real human needs.”

Strawberry Festival Chair Jennifer Manterfield echoes this sentiment, saying, “The volunteer efforts led by the Cathedral Women are nothing short of miraculous each year. Seeing our church and community members come together and work side by side to put this on strengthens my faith in many ways. And our organization is always thrilled to award the proceeds of the day in community grants. That’s what our mission is truly about and it’s an honor to be able to do that for area organizations.”

In addition to the sale, other Strawberry Festival activities will include:

• Entertainment on Monument Circle starting at 10:00am. Acts include: Children’s Choir of Christ Church Cathedral, Heather Michelle Chapman, CCC Guitar Trio, Bells Ringers, Trio Compas, Mariachi Sol Jaliciense, and Meztli Cultural

• An Indiana Blood Center bloodmobile will be on the Circle offering free “The Works” tickets to blood donors starting at 9 am.

• Noonday Holy Eucharist will be offered inside the church at 12:05 pm.

• Free walking tour brochures of the Cathedral offer details on the history and beauty of our church building.

The First inaugural Strawberry Festival was held on Thursday, June 10, 1965. The festival was the idea of parishioner Pat Harding, who suggested the church host a strawberry festival, such as they had back in her hometown of Lymington, England. With Nate Gore, Church Sexton, the Cathedral Women thought they could both raise funds and have some fun.

The Cathedral Women baked and sold 100 homemade shortcakes on the church lawn for the first festival in 1965. They decided to host it on Thursday night to capitalize on the evening hours of the J.C. Penney department store on Monument Circle. Within two hours, they had sold out of shortcakes. This year, the congregation baked 19,499 homemade shortcakes.