Salisbury Festival Saturday in pictures and text
Photos and observations from yesterday’s events, or at least some of those which occurred while I was there.
Let’s begin with this one that I darn near stepped on:
At least this year there wasn’t any rain to wash it away. Seems to me it was either last year or the one before where we had a little thunderstorm blow through about closing time.
But this year one could argue the weather was near-perfect; perhaps a little bit hot for some of the old-timers and those whose booths landed them in the sun for the better part of the day. Since I brought up Arts on the Plaza, here’s a couple looks at the attendance. The first shot I took around noon, the second about 1:30.
I also took comparison shots along the next block of Main Street, but from different perspectives in this case. For the first shot from noontime I simply crossed over Division Street and looked easterly, the second shot is taken from the Baptist Street corner by the Chamber of Commerce (who sponsors the event and should be commended for their support.)
Another observation I have is that the people who schedule talent were somewhat shrewd in making the Festival attractive. By putting the groups with multiple participants on the Court Street and Government Office Building stages they at least bring the parents of the kids down to check out the rest of the exhibits and such for a little while. On the other hand it doesn’t do a whole lot for Arts on the Plaza.
And while last year there were a number of bands I wanted to check out, this year there were just two for whom I stuck around to see part of their show. I’ll put those in a future post since I have 16 photos in this one already!
One aspect of the Salisbury Festival which rarely disappoints me is the Wheels That Heal car show. These are five of the best cars I saw – unfortunately it didn’t occur to me to write down the owners’ names but they know who they are and they do a lot of work keeping this Detroit iron in fine running order.
I’m ranking them from five to one in this case; not to say there weren’t other cars I really liked but there’s a couple I think I’ve posted before too.
Because of its timing after city elections and this being an off-year, there wasn’t the political posturing present at some Salisbury Festivals. Aside from the Wicomico County Republican Club maintaining its usual booth in the food court, I think the picture below may have been as political as it got.
Speaking of the city election, newly installed Mayor Ireton was out and about most of the day checking on things. Here he’s chatting with local resident Tim Spies (whose son plays in one of yesterday’s featured bands, Naked Brunch.)
Another charitable cause that’s getting more and more of a presence in the Salisbury Festival is the brain tumor awareness group HOPE (which stands for Helping Others by Providing Encouragement). One fortunate brain tumor survivor is Sandra Wyatt and here she’s being interviewed by Channel 47.
This proclamation was from May 1, 2008. I’m thinking that a similar one will be in effect this year, whether this coming Friday or at a comparable point on the calendar.
After leaving the Festival, I went over to the Salisbury Zoo. A charitable event I’ve been pleased to participate in for the four years it’s been in existence is the Ben Layton Memorial 5K Run/Walk.
Whether it was the heat or the economy, I noticed registration was down a bit this year – at least judging by racer numbers. The highest I saw last year was in the 160′s, this year the highest number I saw was 142.
Here’s my portrait from yesterday.
As far as personal notes, two things stick out from the event. One is that the frequent commenter “Final Frontier”, who was one of the many volunteers along the race course, revealed herself to me – not that I had time to properly introduce myself, but still – and the second was that I had my personal best time of about 37:40 for walking the 5K. It was second-best for the event and unlike last year I at least kept the 5K walk winner within sight of me (he was roughly 30 seconds ahead).
The only big issue regarding the race was the problem the organizers had in tabulating results – they still hadn’t finished up by 9:30 so many of those who won their age groups didn’t receive their due.
Because the organizers wanted suggestions for next year’s event I have a few and since this is my forum, here they are.
One mixup was that one of the overall 5K runner winners was listed under a 5K walker. (Kudos to the 3rd place winner who was honest enough to note there were two runners in front of him and not just one.) I can see where the mistake can be made because the categories are listed as one row on the registration. Perhaps the list can be vertical and separated by a brief description of the event, like this. Imagine there’s a checkbox next to the bold print.
5K Run
A competitive event with winners by gender in several age group categories. The scenic course runs through the Salisbury Zoo and adjacent City Park.
5K Walk
For both competitive speedwalkers and those who would like a nice long stroll to round out their day, this runs along the same course the runners use.
2K Fun Walk
A perfect opportunity for a pleasant evening walk, this is one event the whole family can enjoy and contribute to a good cause at the same time.
If the entrants mess that up, well, then I can’t help them.
The other new feature tried this year was a live auction. I can see why this was nice to fill up the dead time after dinner is served as the results are calculated, but I think it may be more lucrative if done as a silent auction. As an added benefit you can start the bidding during registration and then move the items up to the Elks Lodge during the race for additional bidding time as patrons wait for dinner.
So that’s my contribution to the dialogue on the subject. It would be nice to do something special for the fifth anniversary next year. (Oddly enough, the event has now lasted as long as the namesake’s lifespan.) I would be curious to know how many people have participated in all four so far since you brought up the fact I had done so during the awards ceremony. Certainly I’m sure I’m far from the only one who has.
It was a busy Saturday for me as you can see, and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Trust me, I slept rather well afterward!
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Hey Michael. Great job at the 5K! We have a picture of you booking it on the trail. E-mail me your address and I’ll forward the picture to you.
You can use the e-mail address I place up top on the site. Let me tell you I was booking it!
Hmmm . . . maybe the pics are blocking your email address? I cannot seem to find it on your site.
It’s there…look in the upper left corner under where it says “Have a question, problem, thought, opinion, or comment?” just to the left of the main title.
I don’t place the “@” symbol there because I was told that attracts spambots to the address.
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