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MORNING STAR • July 15 - 21, 2010
Rain heightens interest in Riverfest 2011 By Lynn R. Parks
This past weekend, Carolyn Farley traveled more than 100 miles, from Springfield, Va., a suburb of Washington, D.C., to Seaford and its annual Riverfest. She and her husband, Rick, set up their funnel cake stand, Carol’s Concessions, on High Street just west of city hall. But by 4 p.m. Saturday, about six hours after the city, which sponsors the festival, canceled all outdoor activities due to rain and threatening thunderstorms, the stand’s slow trickle of customers dwindled to none. The Farleys packed up shop and headed home, about six hours earlier than they had intended. “The weather kind of put a damper on things,” Carolyn Farley said as she fried up what would turn out to be the last funnel cake of the day. “But that’s OK—I’m already looking forward to next year.” And there will be a next year, said Trisha Newcomer, the city’s economic development and information and technology manager. Riverfest 2011 is set for July 7, 8 and 9. “Riverfest will go on again,” Newcomer said. “We will not let this year’s rain deter us from another festival next year.” Newcomer said that this was the first wash-out in the 16-year history of Riverfest. “We’ve been extremely fortunate up until now,” she added. “And I think that this year’s rain will make people even more eager for next year.” Jason and Darlene Hudson, Seaford, agree. With their 4-year-old daughter, Kalith, they wandered down High Street Saturday afternoon. “We just walked down the street and now we’re walking back and heading home,” said Jason. “There’s not much here. But we’re not disappointed. And we’ll be back next year. I won’t not come back because it rained today.” Riverfest opened on Thursday with a carnival, sponsored by the Nanticoke Rotary Club. On Friday, after a shower moved through town at around lunchtime, vendors set up along High Street. The city opted to move all Friday-night entertainment scheduled for the festival’s main stage into the Seaford Fire Hall, to prevent sound equipment from being damaged by rain. Friday-evening activities, including
opening ceremonies and the Mayor’s Invitational Egg Toss, got off without problem. “Competitors got a little rained on during the egg toss, but they went ahead,” Newcomer said. State Rep. Danny Short was the winner. On Saturday, vendors arrived on High Street and started setting up their booths. “We had quite a few vendors downtown and people were showing up for the car show,” Newcomer said. Then at around 9:30, “the bottom dropped out.” City staff turned to the internet to check the forecast for the day. “There was not an hour that had anything less than a 50-percent chance of rain,” Newcomer said. All outdoor activities, including entertainment set for the Rotary Stage behind city hall and for Gateway Park, were canceled. The festival keystone event, the Nanticoke River float-in, was also canceled because of threatening thunderstorms. As it had been Friday, entertainment that was scheduled for the main bandstand was moved inside. Vendors were allowed to stay if they wanted. Many left, but a few, like the Farleys, stayed until mid-afternoon. “It was very disheartening,” Newcomer said. “We had a committee that worked so hard for months to bring together a wonderful festival for the community, and Mother Nature didn’t want to cooperate.” She praised the nearly 20 volunteers, including city employees, city council members and members of the Riverfest committee, for pitching in and helping to take down tents and clean up trash after the activities were canceled. “They worked in the pouring rain and were drenched,” she said. “But we had everything cleaned up by around 2 p.m.” Late Saturday afternoon, friends Maggie Durig, 15, and Ashley Bean 16, both from Seaford, sat in Gateway Park, eating a snack from the nearby Royal Farms convenience store. They normally participate in the float-in, Maggie said. “There’s not much here to do,” said Maggie. “But it’s still kind of nice to be here, walking around.” “I wish that more people were here,” added Ashley. “And that more vendors had stayed.” Bruce Bradt, from Georgetown, and Tom Collins, Seaford, didn’t let the fact
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Riverfest’s keystone event, the Nanticoke River float-in, was among activities that were canceled due to rain. This sign was posted at the city’s canoe launch, where float-in participants would have landed. Photo by Lynn R. Parks
that the float-in and the kayak race, both of which they planned to participate in, were cancelled deter them from enjoying the Nanticoke. Late Saturday afternoon, they were taking turns rowing a kayak along the river. “We got soaked earlier today when we
were waiting for the races,” Collins said. “But that’s OK — the river is beautiful now.” Collins also echoed the sentiments of many whose Riverfest plans were changed by the rain. “I’ll be back again next year,” he said.
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