Music, festival games, food and more will be available to the community at Beech Grove United Methodist Church, located in Driver, on Oct. 3 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

This is the first time the church has put on a fall picnic event and is doing so to connect with the community.

“We have a really nice community out here in Driver,” said church member Robin Magrisi. Because of this, the church finds it important to try to reach out to the community and bring people together.

This goal of bringing the community together explains the event’s name, “Fall CommUNITY Picnic.” Along with building unity, they also want to simply “get to know the surrounding community a little better,” said Beech Grove Pastor Keith Moore.

As the pastor of the church for the past six years, Moore refers to the church as having a “warm, caring congregation.”

“We’re a very diverse group,” he added. There are members representing all kinds of ages and stages of life.

The picnic will be held at the church, located at 4251 Driver Lane. While the event is called a picnic, there is actually much more to do than eat. There will be games, bounce houses, corn hole tournaments for multiple age groups, face painting, live entertainment, a petting zoo and a fire truck for kids to explore, Magrisi said. Among the many games and activities, there will be a three-legged race, the egg and spoon race and a sack race.

A cakewalk will also take place during the event, during which guests will walk until someone wins a free cake, Magrisi said. Some of the other food options at the event consist of pulled pork sandwiches, hot dogs, popcorn and dessert.

Throughout the day, families will also get the opportunity to enjoy five musical performances by local groups, Magrisi said. The performances represent multiple genres including jazz guitar and gospel.

Along with this new outreach, there are many others the church already regularly supports or participates in. They host an annual Stop Hunger Now event, where the congregation packs meal for the hungry, as well as an annual school supplies drive, Moore said. They are also involved with Camp Rainbow and support a missionary in Roanoke.

To learn more about the church, visit www.beechgroveumc.org.