Local MDA Festival ‘was our best year yet’
Published 12:00 am Tuesday, April 1, 2025
Preston Bass, left, takes a break while his mom Angel Bass, center and Arianna Martin, store manager, chats. — Karen Kistler
Mike-O Martelli provides entertainment juggling for the crowd. — Karen Kistler
Vincent Hollingsworth takes aim to continue his successful ring toss game. — Karen Kistler
Orion, and Jordan Ferguson try their hand at the dart ball game. — Karen Kistler
Riley Bagwell tries his hand at cornholl. — Karen Kistler
Miller’s Ferry Fire Department Safety Officer Joshua Eagle stands in front of the fire truck.
Bounce houses were set up in the grassy area for the children to enjoy. — Karen Kistler
Karen Kistler
karen.kistler@salisburypost.com
All ages came together for fun and for fundraising on March 22 at the Han-dee Hugo store at 1190 Long Ferry Road, Salisbury.
This was the fourth consecutive year that they have held a MDA Festival to raise money for The Muscular Dystrophy Association, and Arianna Martin, manager of the local store, said, “this year was our best year yet.”
The first year that the store held the festival, they sponsored a child, Preston Bass, and Martin said they fell in love with him. And while there is no specific child that they sponsor now, as Martin noted they raise money for all the children. Preston and his mom, Angel Bass, who are from Hubert, return to the festival every year, and this year was no exception.
Bass said that when they come here, Preston, who is now 11, “really loves seeing all of our regular supporters like Mr. Chris and Arianna, just seeing familiar faces and they all just embrace and love him. A lot of it is just about feeling accepted. And so he knows when he comes here that they just embrace him with love and make him feel good. And that is all for kids like him. “
Preston said that he was having some fun at the event and his favorite part of it was the bounce house.
He was able to play some and then had to rest a while and then could do some additional activities at the event. At one point, he was chatting with some new friends and preparing to enjoy some lunch.
Bass said they like being able to participate in the event adding that when it’s a fundraiser they are hosting, she isn’t able to enter the raffles. But at this one, “I get to come and not only do we get to donate to MDA, but we get to participate in the fun.”
There were activities for all ages to participate including the bounce houses, which attracted many young children as well as cornhole, ring toss, basketball, fishing booth, fake tattoos, tic tac toe board, a prize walk, a dart ball game and a candy guessing game.
Five-dollar entry tickets were sold, which included wristbands allowing the holder to play all day and a $10 ticket provided all day play plus a meal ticket.
“We started the day planning for at least 100 guests, and we were able to sell out of entry wristbands,” said Martin.
Several hours into the event, she said that she felt the event was going great and they had made more than $400 outside and another $400 inside, and “we’re still going till 3 p.m.,” she said.
When the event concluded and the amount they raised was tallied, Martin said the grand total came to “$2,028, which is $504 more than last year and over $1000 more than the two years before that. It’s definitely a growing event, and we hope to keep getting bigger and better every year,” and she added that it is her hope that “the money we raised will do a lot of good things for the Muscular Dystrophy Association and the families they help.”
Many of the volunteers on hand for the event were either employed at the local store and came to help out for the day or were former employees or were from other Hand-dee Hugo locations such as Robin Blackwood, who runs a Mocksville store, and volunteered.
Chris Castille, district manager for Han-dee Hugo, was there and noted that it was a great event.
He said that it is “such a great organization, and it’s good that we can come together and support such a great cause and come together like family.”
Mike-O Martelli, who works at the store in the deli, was entertaining the crowd, juggling.
He said that he was also there because “it’s a really great cause. The money raised helps with the camps, which are great for the kids.”
Martelli noted that the camps provide an opportunity for the children who have disabilities to be able to have fun like other children who don’t face those challenges, “but also more importantly,” he added, the money the event raises for research, “helps these and anybody born with the same challenges in the future to have a better life.”
From the laughter and smiles, it was evident that those in attendance were also having a good time, as well as helping the cause.
Riley Bagwell, who was playing cornhole, said he came with friends and that MDA is a good cause.
Orion and Jordan Ferguson were participating in the dart game and Jordan shared that they were there because it’s “funding important research to help people.”
Learning about the event from the cashiers and staff at the local Han-dee Hugo, Vincent Hollingsworth said they were awesome in promoting the festival, and he told them he would attend.
“I wanted to at least come out, give my word, which I told them I was coming,” he said. The biggest thing is being a man of your word, committing to it and once again, it’s a beautiful event so as I get the first time to experience I have nothing, I mean absolutely nothing, but positive things to say about it.”
Joshua Eagle, safety officer with the Miller’s Ferry Fire Department, said they were at the event to serve as medical standby personnel, but they were also giving the children a chance to see the fire trucks and provide education and be out in the community.
“It’s one of our local businesses,” said Eagle and therefore, were “doing our part to support the MDA Foundation.”
“We had a lot of positive comments from our customers and employees also saying they enjoyed this year the best so far,” said Martin.
Seeing the crowd that had come out to lend their support, Bass said that it had been a rough year for them and Preston had declined, so his “attempting to play and interact” and the children there were interacting with him and “everybody here is so accepting and loving and so, that’s what it means to me,” she said.
And for Preston, she added, “he just gets to have fun and he doesn’t get judged or made fun of.”
