Fun and Games Mix with Food and Violins at Strawberry Festival

In 1830, Wynant Van Zandt signed an organizing charter establishing the Zion Episcopal Church on a parcel of land he had donated from his farm along the shore of Little Neck Bay.

That same year, parishioners celebrated their new religious institution with a strawberry festival for the entire community.

Van Zandt died a year later and was interred in a family vault beneath the church, but that did not deter parishioners from holding the festival that year - and every year since.

Yesterday's drizzling rain did not prevent Zion's members and other northeast Queens residents from enjoying this year's celebration.

Strawberries that had been picked the previous day at Anderson Farms in Riverhead were the main attraction.

But these fresh morsels had to compete with a violin concert, organized games, a bouncy castle, grilled food and various shopping options, including a woman selling painted rocks.

"It's a wonderful mix of people," said Rev. Patrick J. Holtkamp, who acts as pastor of the Northern Boulevard church. "And they're having fun."

Take a look at Rob MacKay's photos from the strawberry festival that accompany this article.