DALTON, Mass. - Members of a small-town church are rallying their community to raise money for roof repairs with a Three Stooges Festival on Friday.

Organizer Bernie Klem is a longtime fan of The Three Stooges, and the proud owner of several t-shirts, copies of a monthly fan club newsletter, framed photos, comic books, DVDs, and more.

He certainly knows his way around a pie fight, and he was even married on Curly’s birthday. The second dance at his wedding was ’The Curly Shuffle.’

Klem said when he and his wife were planning their wedding, they checked out a local band to see if they’d be a good fit.

“As we’re approaching the garage, we hear the music playing and they break into The Curly Shuffle,” Klem said. “My wife just kind of rolls her eyes and looks at me and says ‘We’re going with these guys aren’t we?”

With the help of Larry, Curly and Moe, Klem has been helping raise money for the Dalton United Methodist Church and the wider Dalton community for years.

Their festival will include a showing of five short films by The Three Stooges, as well as trivia and, of course, some pie-throwing.

“This is almost completely the knuckleheads who love The Three Stooges, It’s just an opportunity to laugh,” Klem said. “I mean, we just don't get to laugh like we used to. I personally am a big believer of laughter being the best medicine.”

And although some people’s mileage may vary when it comes to comedy, he’s found almost everyone agrees on The Three Stooges.

“While you might not think Saturday Night Live is funny anymore, you might not like Adam Sandler, you might not like all the other things, but the Stooges, I'm showing things that are almost 100 years old, and there's still something that just brings out the belly laugh with an eye poke or a pie to the face.”

In case you were worried, Klem isn’t all alone on his Three Stooges superfan island. His longtime friend David Badeau shows a similar level of dedication, and he has the responsibility of preparing pies.

“After several experiments with different pie recipes, we found that the best for pie throwing is just plain old simple shaving cream,” Badeau said. “We use lightweight pie tins so that nobody gets hurt.”

The Three Stooges Festival begins at 7 pm Friday at the church, located at 755 Main Street in Dalton. There's no admission charge for the event, but a free-will offering will be taken, with all proceeds benefiting the church’s Roof & Restoration Fund.