It’s a Saturday morning. The weather is fair and the windows are open. It’s time to feed the chickens and take the dog out. I look at the clock. I can push it another 15 minutes or so, I think, as long as I don’t have to get up and pee. I start to doze, but come out of it to the hissing of air brakes and the rumble of a semi changing gears as it turns onto Allen Street and accelerates past my house; then another. Through truck traffic is prohibited on this road. But, there goes another. This can only mean one thing, it’s Street Fair and the traffic up Route 68 from the south is being detoured down my normally quiet street. I’m not happy; the truck drivers are not happy.Will I go to street fair this year? That’s always the question. If I’m in town, I usually go although there’s rarely anything new. I know a lot of locals who won’t. Sometimes I think I go just to see how big it has gotten. Every year it’s bigger. Better? Well, that’s another question. It just seems like it’s more of the same, at least as far as the vendors go. Entertainment-wise, however, it has evolved over the past few years, especially with the advent of the entertainment stage on the Bryan Center lawn where they also sell beer. It beats the old days when the bands played at Mills Lawn and there didn’t seem to be much of an audience. And now the belly dancers have the lawn in front of the funeral home, instead of the sidewalk in front of the Presbyterian Church. The Presbyterians never were much in favor of belly dancing. They would pretend to be busy pushing strawberry Sundaes or Apple Betty, but the Deacon with the bullhorn would keep drawing everyone’s attention to the exotica in the street. I guess you’d have to say all sides are happier with that move.
How much bigger can this thing get? I used to go the San Genaro festival in New York’s Little Italy every year until finally it got so crowded, one year, I literally could not move for more than 20 minutes. Street Fair is almost there.
Sometimes I will go if I know someone from out of town who has taken a booth. We used to have friends who made jewelry who would come up for Art on the Lawn and Street Fair, but they’re no longer in business. This year we have a new friend, a woman Amy knows from the Dayton Association of Chinese Americans, who displayed her paintings at Art on the Lawn this summer and who will have a booth. So we will probably go just to say hello.
Will we walk, bike or drive? That’s always a problem. My bike is in bad shape and we’re usually too tired to walk home after all the pushing and shoving. We have a secret parking place, as long as someone else doesn’t figure it out before we get there. All this makes you wonder if it’s worth it. But then, one year, I heard someone from out of town say to his companion, “Yellow Springs Street Fair is absolutely the best!” and it kind of made me proud.
-vh
Addendum:
Well, we went for about an hour. This was certainly the biggest Street Fair ever. Parking was still a problem at 3 p.m. (our secret spot was occupied). At 7 p.m We still had more than the usual amount of traffic on Allen St. I imagine breaking down all those shelters and getting all the vendors out was a nightmare. It may be time to start asking "How big is too big?"
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2 comments:
We know that many villagers look at Street Fair with a sense of trepidation and frustration, the traffic, the congestion, the inconvenience of not being able to make a quick run to Tom's. What we also know is that Street Fairs are the biggest days of the year for most, if not all, downtown businesses and likely yesterday's record setting crowd set new sales records. That's not even considering the non-profits who earn money and have an opportunity to be recognized by thousands and the artists and crafters who are able to sell their work. We've actually gained several successful downtown businesess who started as Street Fair vendors. And we can't forget the thousands who left Street Fair happy and looking forward to their next visit to Yellow Springs.
We've worked hard to expand the Street Fair venue so it is less congested and offers a variety of experiences and entertainment options. We think we've been very successful at improving the event while keeping it an authentic Yellow Springs experience.
Yes, yesterday was a record setter but went off without a hitch. The logistics of Street Fair are carefully coordinanted by the most amazing Street Fair coordinator ever, Holly Simpson and require the dedicated help of many volunteers, the Village crews and PD, Miami Township F&R and YS Schools who share their facilities with us. Peach's Grill is an amazing partner handling the Music Festival and Beer Garden adding an exciting new aspect to SF.
So I can understand the irritations many feel but hope those can be set aside when we realize the success and happiness this event brings to hundreds of current villagers and hopefully future villagers.
I went to street fair fair in the afternoon for about two hours and felt it was the best ever. I went specifically for the music and the food. I spent an hour listening to Wheels at the beer garden and they were great! I also watched and listen to the drum circle at Corry and Xenia Avenue and the klezmer sounding group on the steps at Toms. I went in shop[s that I have not been in before. Grabbed some spring rolls at the Vietnamese booth. I really enjoyed myself and saw lots of friends from town and from outside of town. I loved it! The crowd was great and everyone seemed to be having a great time. My only criticism was that the stage sound in front of the Bryant Center was too loud and more than a few people said so of various generations. What you missed in a band like Wheels was the nuances in the music because the volume smothered it. This is one thing that is easily fixed. Maybe to solve some local critics, a special parking area could be set aside for townspeople to use(including Miami township)showing id to gain entry.
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