Salisbury Festival Saturday in pictures and text

Apr 26, 2009

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:

I got there a little late for watching the young folks working on this but here's a sample of what was done to about 20 feet of sidewalk as part of Arts on the Plaza.

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.

Looking from the corner of Main and Division Streets, Arts on the Plaza had a relatively modest showing at noon.

As you can tell, compared to the shot above things had picked up to a more steady stream by 1:30 or so. The shot is taken from practically the same vantage point in both cases.

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.)

Main Street wasn't all that busy yet at noon. Heck, there weren't even lines to get into the porta-potties.

The streetscape looked much less anemic at 1:30. As an aside, I also appreciate PRMC bringing over their van each year because I take advantage of the opportunity to get a quick checkover. The other aside is that I wouldn't have liked the job of costumed character (as in the one Aaron's had) yesterday!

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.

A sharp two-toned 1958 Chevy Bel Air. It's the oldest car I'm featuring, and I'll bet by the end I could've fried an egg on the trunk.

Before Detroit came up with the SUV, their idea of a crossover vehicle was placing a pickup bed on a auto chassis. For GM it was the Chevy El Camino, of which this is an example from 1971 (it's even an SS model). The front on stock models was basically identical to that year's Chevelle.

Here is a 1968 Pontiac Firebird, which GM put out so Pontiac dealers could have a 'muscle car' like the Chevy Camaro. In truth I like the Firebird's styling a little better than the Camaro's. It wasn't like later on when the sole difference between Chevy and Pontiac models seemingly was the badge on the front.

Before GM made it a sedate economy car later on in the 1980's, the Nova was actually a pretty neat sportster. This was my favorite car in the show, a 1963 Nova SS convertible.

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.

The fine folks from Maryland Right to Life were making their pitch at the festival, but certainly were low-key about it. At the moment abortion isn't such a hot-button issue since pocketbook issues are more at the forefront.

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.)

Mayor Jim Ireton (right, with sunglasses) was very visible at the festival - I crossed paths with him a couple times during the time I was there.

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.

I didn't watch the 6:00 news on WMDT (since I was otherwise occupied as you'll see) but hopefully they gave Sandra a nice few seconds of television exposure.

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.

Governor O'Malley proclaimed May 1, 2008 as Brain Tumor Awareness Day.

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.

I made it early to the Ben Layton Memorial and registration was well underway.

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.

Okay, I really don't have that big of a bulge on my side. Normally I carry a fanny pack under my shirt so my keys, cel phone, and inhaler don't jiggle in my pockets.

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!

Salisbury Festival Saturday in pictures and text

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