It has been an annual tradition — for the past 35 years — for Toms Brook United Methodist Church to be a part of the Shenandoah County Fair. This service of mission was initiated by the Methodist Men’s Group and later taken on by the entire church.

The church maintains a permenant food concession stand in the infield of the fair where we sell hamburgers, hot dogs, french fries, ham sandwiches, and our famous bean soup.

In 2010, a total of 99 people worked 302 shifts; they served 160 gallons of bean soup, 955 pounds of hamburger, and over 1000 hotdogs!

All these efforts resulted in a net of $10,000, which was donated to the church. The administrative council then decided to donate the entire $10,000 back to the community! Toms Brook UMC made donations to Shenandoah County Free Clinic, Shenandoah Alliance for Shelter, Shenandoah County Pregnancy Center, ShenPaco Industries, Valley Christian Outreach, our own Lend-A-Hand fund, and the Russia Mission Project. Without the hard work and dedication of everyone involved, this would not have been possible.

Plans already are underway for 2011.