Moore County employees and their families raised more than $2,000 for the Komen Foundation Saturday at their first Family Fun Festival at Hillcrest Park.

The funds were raised through such activities as a silent auction, a poker walk, a dunking booth and a chili cook-off. Uniden-tified observers report that the dunking booth was especially popular because the dunkees included County Manager Cary McSwain and Assistant Manager Ken Larking.

Because the event was held in October, which is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the planners decided to support the Susan G. Komen for the Cure program, which finances research and treatment for cancer. One county employee, public information officer Eli Arroyo-Allen, is one of five Survivor Ambassadors for the Pink Together 2010 campaign. (She was featured in a front page article in the Oct. 1 edition of The Pilot).

More than 400 people attended the festival, which was planned by the Moore County Government Awareness Team. Other activities included a bouncing house, face painting, music, lunch, snacks and a variety of sporting events.

DEM WOMEN - William Garner, a candidate for the District 5 seat on the Moore County Board of Commissioners, will be the speaker for the Saturday, Oct. 9, meeting of the Democratic Women of Moore County.

He will talk about his visions for the county.

The meeting, to begin at 10 a.m., will be held at the Democratic county headquarters, 104-A North McNeill St., Carthage. The meeting is free and open to the public.

VOTERS - Voter registration books will close Friday, Oct. 8, in preparation for the Nov. 2 general election. The Moore County Board of Elections advises that registration forms must be postmarked or received by Oct. 8 in order to be valid.

One-stop absentee voting will begin Thursday, Oct. 14.

COBLE - Lindsay Morris, a member of Congressman Howard Coble's Greensboro office staff, is in Moore County today (Wednesday) to provide services and handle constituent inquiries.

Office hours are operational from 10 a.m. until 12 noon and from 1 until 3 p.m. at the Southern Pines Police Department on West Pennsylvania Avenue.

Coble spent Saturday through Tuesday elsewhere in the 6th District.

Contact Florence Gilkeson at florence@thepilot.com.