Mother Nature also did her part as weather for the four day festival could hardly have been better. At times, however, the heat did pose a problem.
“The weather was nearly perfect,” said Senter. “I know they had several ambulance calls yesterday (Sunday), I think it may have been eight or nine people that were transported to the hospital but nothing serious that I’m aware of.”
The festival saw several new wrinkles. The recycling effort by the festival called Blue Goes Green, was very well received.
“As you can see we’re probably going to have to expand the area for people to bring their recyclables,” said Senter pointing at several containers overflowing with plastic bottles. “We’re probably going to have to expand and pick up more often. I understand the area for cardboard was full by Saturday night.
“Let’s just say it was a hit.”
As usual the festival saw great crowds for two events in particular – fireworks on Sunday night and the Monday morning parade.
“You always worry a little about the fireworks because there are just so many people in one area, but everybody stays pretty calm and keeps their heads,” said Senter. “I know that people come from all over northern Indiana for the fireworks and the parade may be a little bit more for the local folks.
“I just think it’s really two great peaks for the festival, one on Sunday night and then about 12 hours later, the other, as the weekend winds down.”
The only glitch in the weekend was the expulsion of five vendors and the arrest of seven more at the festival on Friday night. The arrests were part of an ongoing investigation by the Indiana State Police. More details on the exact circumstances will be available later today.
It’s hard to gauge exactly how many people may have attended this year’s festivities over the weekend. The unofficial “parking lot” count would seem to say good things about the attendance.
“I’m pretty sure we did better this year than the past couple of years,” said Senter. “I know our vendors were very happy.”