50th & France hosted their annual Fall Fest at Nolan Mains Plaza on Saturday, Oct. 4. The event included pumpkin decorating, DJ music, pictures with llamas, and many booths from local shops and stores, signaling the beginning of the fall season at 50th.

“We really wanted to just intentionally remind people that even though it’s fall, this is still a great time at 50th & France,” 50th & France Executive Director Rebecca Sorenson said. “Get your friends, come together, and be in [the] community.”

Along with fun collaborative arts and crafts for children and parents to enjoy, the Fall Fest had a deeper meaning this year.

The community of 50th & France had a personal connection to one of the victims of the Annunciation Catholic Church shooting, Harper Moyski.

“[Harper] was a regular at 50th & France… she participated in the North Star art camp, she loved getting ice cream at Sweet Science and going by all the stores,” Sorenson said. “She made comments that she wanted to get a ‘glow up’ up at 50th & France. She was just pure joy and loved everything happening in our district.”

North Star Art Club, based on the Minneapolis side of 50th & France, held fall art activities for people to enjoy while also promoting unity.

“At Fall Fest, we were making hearts that [people could] decorate or write a message for the Annunciation Community,” North Star Art Club teacher Liz Genrich said. “Many people have been leaving them on a tree in the Nolan Mains courtyard area at 50th & France.”

Genrich said the tree served as a visual display for the “community’s concern and outrage” in solidarity with the families affected. The hearts will stay up as long as the tree will hold as a symbol of love and resilience from the Edina community.