By Jeanni Ritchie

Mayor Gail Wilking of Ball is Louisiana’s own Moon Pie. So it was completely fitting to see over 3,000 people show up for the beloved mayor’s inaugural Moon Pie Festival.

 

No one expected such record crowds, from vendors to participants. I was surprised myself until I noticed one thing.

 

God was the Guest of Honor.

 

This is the South and we proudly display our roots and celebrate our heritage as evidenced in dozens and dozens of vendor booths promoting community and faith.

 

You can’t tell Southerners how to believe.

 

Pulling up to the Town Hall of Ball, I was certain I’d have to turn around and join the cars lining the highway, but fortunately a spot near the entrance opened up just as I pulled in allowing me to catch the Young Sheldon lookalike contest before the awards were handed out.

 

Meemaw would’ve been so proud of the little moon pies lining the stage.

 

Bill Lister’s Gimme a RC Cola and a Moon Pie blared from the stage as food truck Gaga’s Goodies offered the combo for only $2.

 

I had to try their fried chocolate moon pie; festivalgoer Tessa LaFleur had said that it was a delicious cross between a funnel cake and a s’more.

 

Tessa and her family had driven up from Lake Charles after reading about the family-friendly festival online. They will be back next year. Everyone I asked echoed that sentiment.

 

The LeFleurs weren’t the only ones who traveled to Ball for the event. Citizens from all over the state came out for exciting games, fabulous food, live music, amazing vendors, cool contests, and a chance to connect with friends old and new.

 

“What’s the gate fee?” a friend asked when she called after seeing a video I’d posted. She wanted to bring her family but, like many, her budget leaves little room for entertainment.

 

“No fee,” I’d told her. The Town of Ball was more interested in building community than expanding pocketbooks. The games were free and unlosable; their prizes handed out to kids of all ages.

 

I won a bracelet with an attached Bible verse shooting basketball. No one was promoting an agenda; prizes and vendor booths had both faith and non-faith items to choose from.

 

It is nice to live in a state where you still have a choice.

 

I didn’t expect to get free mental health therapy either. In fact, when Buddy Andrews and the Branded announced they were going to slow it down for a minute, I groaned. I’d been playing on the playground and dancing throughout the park; a slow song didn’t match my ensuing vibe.

 

I half-tuned the band out as they performed a Hank Williams Jr. cover of The Blues Man until my ears heard these lyrics and my heart took note:

 

 

I’d been a little in my head over broken relationships, letting my heart and soul have fun while my mind stayed in a time-out of regrets.

 

Looking around at crowds filling every inch of the town square, I realized love isn’t one-size-fits-all.

 

 

I’d just run into one of my first Brasher Elementary students and her three children as we briefly caught up on three decades of life. I am Facebook friends with over half that class; I loved them like they were my own.

 

I’d met Madisyn, 8, while we chatted about life while playing on the swings.

 

I’d met the mayor who shared funny stories about my own father I’d never heard before.

 

I’d also reconnected forty years later with a childhood friend. She was there on official capacity but my mind immediately went back to days of old when she was the cool older preteen while we played elementary games during our parents’ Sunday School parties.

 

Life has a way of coming full circle and love has a way of manifesting in new and beautiful ways. It may not look like the picture you’d imagined but it can be something created out of brokenness.

 

It can be found in new friends. It can be found in forming new relationships with like-minded people. It can be found in reconnecting with loved ones from your past.

 

It can certainly be found right in the middle of a Moon Pie Festival in Ball, Louisiana.