This was no regular school fundraiser.

For almost two decades, residents and visitors of Stapleton and the surrounding area, a small unincorporated community in northern Baldwin County between Loxley and Bay Minette, have enjoyed bluegrass music, arts and crafts, food and kid-friendly activities at the Stapleton Bluegrass Festival.

While most who have been know it is an opportunity to experience a safe family environment where adults as well as children can run free and take in the day of music and community, most visitors often do not know the history behind the festival.

According to previous reporting from GCM, In 1983, a group of residents gathered at the Stapleton Volunteer Fire Department to enjoy bluegrass music and raise money for the first department, the festival's website says. After seeing the success of the event, Bill Stough, along with Betty Stough, Rother and Ethel Goram, Royce Jerkins, Bubba Wiggins and other caring citizens, formed a committee to build a committee park.

The goal was to develop a central location where children could play, families could picnic and locals could enjoy music and entertainment. After about a 10-year hiatus, this Oct. 26 marked the seventh festival since its return and now serves as the largest and most important fundraiser for Stapleton School, Principal Jim Perry previously told Gulf Coast Media.

Funding supports "much-needed resources to improve the academic and overall educational experience for our students. For example, profits from last year's festival were used to help fund a significant campus-wide upgrade of classroom instructional technology. While these investments were a great start, there are many more improvements we hope to achieve for our students."