Photo by Gino Ferguson These Carlisle youth are ready for school after receiving bookbags filled with school supplies from the Town of Carlisle. The town distributed nearly 200 bookbags filled with school supplies during a special event Aug. 19 and the following Monday and Tuesday.

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Photo by Gino Ferguson A table full of refreshments was part of the Town of Carlisle celebration of the start of the school year on Aug. 19. The treats served included cookies, ice cream and potato chips.

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Photo by Gino Ferguson The beginning of school celebration held Aug. 19 at the Carlisle Town Hall attracted children of all ages and their families. Children starting school received book bags filled with school supplies and everyone enjoyed refreshments.

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Photo by Gino Ferguson Carlisle Town Council Member Maxine Spencer, left, presents a Carlisle youth with a bookbag full of school supplies during the town's celebration of the beginning of school. Bookbags filled with school supplies such as paper, notebooks, pencils and erasers were distributed by the town Aug. 19 and the following Monday and Tuesday.

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Photo by Gino Ferguson Families participating in the Town of Carlisle's beginning of school celebration enjoyed a time of socializing.

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Photo by Gino Ferguson Among those attending the Town of Carlisle's beginning of school celebrate and school supply distribution event was Union County High School Principal Floyd Lyles.

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CARLISLE — It wasn’t the “Community Fun Day,” but a special event held by the Town of Carlisle on Aug. 19 was still a fun day for the community.

The “Community Fun Day/Back To School Bash” is an annual event sponsored by the Town of Carlisle to celebrate the beginning of the school year and to prepare the community’s children for the classroom by providing them with school supplies.

This year’s event was scheduled for Aug. 18 at the Carlisle Playground when it was canceled by Mayor Mary Ferguson-Glenn in favor of an alternative event at the Carlisle Town Hall on Aug. 19.

In announcing the town’s change of plans, Ferguson-Glenn said bookbags and school supplies would be distributed at the town hall and refreshments served to the children and their families.

Ferguson-Glenn said Thursday that while it wasn’t the Fun Day everyone had been looking forward to, the alternative celebration was a success. She said everyone who attended seemed to enjoy themselves.

“It was a great success,” Ferguson-Glenn said. “We made it a party-type atmosphere, serving the children and their parents ice cream, cookies and potato chips. It gave the families an opportunity to sit and socialize with each other.”

While the main purpose of the event was the distribution of school supplies, Ferguson-Glenn said she wanted it to also be fun for the children as way of making up for the cancellation of Fun Day.

“We wanted it to be about more than just distributing the bookbags,” Ferguson-Glenn said. “We wanted it to be like a party, to be fun for the children to make up for canceling Fun Day. We wanted the children to have a good time and they did. It was just a pleasure watching the children enjoy themselves.”

Even as they were enjoying themselves, the children participating in the event were getting ready for school. School supplies including pencils, notebook paper, hardcover notebooks, folders, erasers and other classroom items were distributed. The items were all packed in the book bags the town also distributed.

Ferguson-Glenn said the distributions continued beyond Sunday’s event.

“We distributed just under 200 bookbags filled with school supplies,” Ferguson-Glenn said. “Although Sunday was the day that we set for the distribution, we were still distributing bookbags on Monday and Tuesday. We fulfilled every request.”

The children participating in the event also received McDonald’s gift certificates.

Ferguson-Glenn thanked the volunteers who assisted with Sunday’s event. She also thanked the organizations that donated the funds and supplies.

“We’re grateful to the community, the churches, and the businesses in Carlisle and in Santuc and Union,” Ferguson-Glenn said. “Without them this could not have taken place. Everything was done with donated funds.”