They did it again
Another Chingawassa Days festival is in the history books and will be remembered as a weekend chock-full of fun and entertainment.
This was the 10th annual event and the steering committee went all out to make sure this year's event lived up to the expectations of everyone who has attended in past years.
There wasn't a single event that didn't draw a crowd. Not one single performance wasn't up to Chingawassa standards.
After 10 years of great festivals, it's difficult to find some new way to say it was a success.
The general public doesn't begin to know the ins-and-outs of organizing such a huge event.
Planning for the next festival begins almost as soon as the current one ends. The committee evaluates every aspect of the festival. They'll spend countless hours discussing what worked and what didn't. More hours will be spent choosing a brand-name act to top the previous year.
After the festival, some us go home with memories of the Extreme Rhino Challenge and Chingawassa Idol swimming in our minds. Others go home with bruises and welts from the dodge ball tournament or pockets full of prizes and money from bingo or the poker tournament.
The 1,000-plus who attended Saturday night's concert will go home with "American Woman" ringing in their ears and fireworks flashing in their eyes.
Most of us will wonder briefly about next year's festival, then promptly forget it in the rush of other summer activities.
But after the last note is sung, the last button-wearer leaves the park, and the last guitar and drumstick is packed, the committee is already at work on next year's event.
While they're working on that, we'll be working a new way to say it was another successful event.
— DONNA BERNHARDT