Chinga talk
Marion enjoyed its 11th Chingawassa Days in June 2007. This annual festival has become one of the highlights of the year, and a great selling point for those promoting the quality of life in our town. Even though everyone has some idea what the festival offers, you can't really know what goes into staging the event unless you have been on the Chinga committee. To answer questions and clear up areas of confusion, Pete the Chingawassa Rhino has agreed to respond to a number of questions. The issues and Pete's responses will be presented in a series of columns the next few weeks.
Dear Pete: Why don't you get better vendors in the park for Chingawassa Days, something more along the lines of Art in the Park?
Pete's answer: The view of the Chingawassa committee is that Marion has three major community events.
The granddaddy of them all is, of course, Old Settlers' Day, which has its own unique activities and traditions.
Chingawassa Days grew out of the old "summerfest" concerts that used to take place on the Luta Creek Stage. Some complained that Old Settlers' Day offered nothing for those who didn't grow up in Marion. There was discussion with regard to supplementing OSD with some other events for those folks (new settlers?). After some thought, it was clear that Old Settlers' Day was just fine and didn't need improvement.
Rather than fix something that wasn't broken, the original festival committee decided to do away with the series of summerfest concerts, and put all their eggs in one basket for a weekend festival in June. That original committee looked at a number of options for the spring festival. Included was the idea of some sort of limited version of the fall arts and crafts event. Once again, the conclusion was that Art in the Park was just fine, and it didn't make any sense to try and compete with it.
Marion has two strong, successful events in the fall and there was no reason to dilute either of them by offering something similar in the spring. For that reason, the committee made a conscious decision not to promote the sale of "arts and crafts" during Chingawassa. Because the idea behind Chingawassa is for there to be a little something for everyone, the committee does not discourage vendors from coming, we just don't promote arts and craft type vendors.
The hope is that everyone will enjoy some part of Chingawassa. It may be that an individual only enjoys the horseshoe tournament, or the big concert, or the bed races, or the barbecue, or perhaps the eclectic blend of vendors that are in the park. It is acknowledged that they aren't the same type vendor that people see at "Art in the Park," but if they offer a thing or two that you or your child enjoys, then they have benefited the festival. If nothing else, it's something else to look at that just adds to the other entertainment options.
