Festivals and the Community
The festivals were a way to change the image of Girls' Town from a mysterious , closed-off place perceived by the public as a penal institution, to a nurturing and supportive force in the lives of girls who needed help. A brochure called "Happy Days at Girls' Town" and the many newspaper articles about the annual festivals and the good the Sisters were doing were ways in which the Festival Committee reached out to the public with great success. The festivals featured booths (including those selling the nuns' needlework), rides, food, games, and car raffles, and became a summer fixture for residents of the surrounding neighborhoods and beyond.
