IVANHOE — Saturday, friends, families and community members gathered in this small southern Sampson community to participate in the area’s biggest celebration of the year, one with promoting unity at its core.
Dozens of people came out to the Ivanhoe Volunteer Fire Department to attend the event, which lasted throughout the day Saturday. The venue featured both shelter for sitting and conversing, as well as a large open area for guests to spread out and roam around.
Complete with funnel cakes, cotton candy and more, Ivanhoe Community Day is fairly self-explanatory, celebrating the people and the community of Ivanhoe through food, fun and fellowship. In addition, several local businesses attended the event as vendors, selling locally-made goods and spreading the word about various services in and around the community.
Located near Harrells, the small community of Ivanhoe is largely dominated by trees and wildlife, with a population of around 270 people. Because of this, events such as Community Day are organized to help provide a spotlight to a community that can often be overlooked.
“This is sort of the edge of the earth, or the edge of Sampson County, I should say,” said James Jones, a first sergeant with the Sampson County Sheriff’s Office and a Harrells resident. “I heard that this event was started a couple years ago to help people find out more about Ivanhoe and become more familiar with the community. It can be a little hard to find in between all the trees.”
In addition to Jones, other well-known members of the community attended the event. Sampson County Commissioner Lethia Lee expressed great joy over the outcome of the celebration.
“This is a great event for the community,” Lee said. “All the people who say there’s nothing to do here, this gives them something to do.”
The event first got its start in 2022 when one of the event’s organizers, Tiffany Dobbin, wanted to spread awareness about the community in hopes of bringing everyone together.
“The event has been going on since May of 2022,” Dobbin said. “It brings the community together. Some members of the community have moved away over time. This gives them the opportunity to come together in unity, share memories, support local businesses and celebrate Ivanhoe traditions.”
Since then, the event has grown in both size and notoriety, drawing larger crowds each year.
“Compared to previous years, the event has changed tremendously,” Dobbin attested. “Now, everybody seems to be aware of the event and knows that it is held annually around the same time each year. That definitely helps make things easier.”
According to Dobbin, planning the event is a process that takes place over several months.
“Planning consists of gathering sponsors and fundraising to buy supplies for the event,” Dobbin said. “We reach out to vendors and participants to ensure everyone is aware of the event. We also post flyers throughout the community, in stores and on social media as a reminder.”
This year, to help build even more excitement around the event, Dobbin enlisted the help of the community’s oldest resident, Sarah Francis Devane. At 95 years old, Devane is a lifelong resident of the community who chose to remain in Ivanhoe rather than move elsewhere. During the event, Devane greeted several attendees from the comfort of her car.
“It’s an honor to be the grand marshal here,” Devane said. “I love this community and the people. There are so many nice people around here.”
Devane chose to raise her family in the Ivanhoe area, where she grew up. Though many members of her family moved throughout the country, several relatives attended the event. Members of her family wore bright orange shirts that read, “Family of Sarah Devane: Grand Marshal.”
For Dobbin, the best part of the event was watching everyone interact in a place where everybody knows everybody.
“It was amazing seeing so many familiar faces,” Dobbin said. “Everyone was hugging one another, sharing memories with laughter and making new connections.”
According to Dobbin, Ivanhoe Community Day is held annually on the second Saturday in May. As the years continue, the team behind the event plans to keep spreading the word and growing the annual celebration of the Ivanhoe community.