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• 300 craft booths to be at festival • Country music featured in entertainment tent • Tips for traveling to Maple Leaf • 100 quilts to be displayed at quilt show A special section of the Baldwin City Signal and Lawrence Journal-World
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8 Maple Leaf Festival, 2012
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Repeat vendors help make Maple Leaf Festival successful
By Elvyn Jones ejones@theworldco.com
Labor Day Weekend was not a time of leisure for the family of Donna and Denny Haddox. A number of her grandchildren and her daughter-in-law were busy in the family workshop helping her husband, Denny, fabricate metal lawn and garden decorative items for the fall craft show season, Donna Haddox said. “They have jobs or are away in college. This is a day they can help,” she said. One of the shows the South Coffeyville, Okla., couple will attend this fall is the Maple Leaf Festival. “We used to do 25 or 30 a year,” Haddox said. “But this year, we’ll do 10 at the outside. Age is catching up to us. “We weeded out some of the smaller shows. Baldwin is one of our better shows. People look forward every year to what we have new.” The family bends and shapes long steel “sticks” into gates, trellises, garden baskets, planters, whimsical animals and other items to decorate lawns and gardens, Haddox said. They try to add new items to their group of triedand-true popular sellers, she said. “We try things we see in magazine or what we think might work,” she said. “Sometimes, nobody likes them
but the builder, but most of the time they work.” As they have since they started attending the Maple Leaf Festival more than a decade ago, the Haddoxes will set up shop at the corner of Eighth and Indiana streets. The intersection at the southern end of the festival gives them plenty of room to display their wares and park a trailer filled with more. “People can drive up and load our stuff, which makes it kind of nice. Some of our stuff is heavy and bulky,” Donna said. “People know where to find us. We appreciate the Maple Leaf committee taking that into consideration, because we get a lot of repeat customers.” Donna Curren, booth chairman for the Maple Leaf Festival, said 20 to 25 percent of Maple Leaf vendors signed up for the next year during the last day of the festival, which guaranteed they would return to the same spot. Such loyalty helps ensure Maple Leaf will again have its maximum limit of vendors, Curren said. “We’re totally full,” she said. “We have about 215 vendors — about 300 with the food and Business and Professional Women vendors.” Haddox said the Maple Leaf Festival has grown since she and her husband first started attending about a dozen years ago. “It’s definitely taken a leap,” she
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A Maple Leaf shopper browses a craft booth offering colorful wreaths at a recent festival. About 300 art and crafts booths will be at the festival Saturday and Sunday. said. “It’s such a beautiful town and the people are so nice and friendly, it makes you want to come back.” Although here for business, she’s also a festival sightseer and customer,
Haddox said. “I usually try to get away,” she said. “I usually try to see what others are doing. And we eat. Some of the smells just tantalize you.”
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With an estimated 30,000 people visiting Baldwin City festival weekend, local business are busy planning to capture some of the traffic. File photo
Baldwin City businesses plan for hectic weekend By Elvyn Jones ejones@theworldco.com
Stan Vickers remembers 20 years ago when friends in his hometown of Williamsburg tried to get him to join them for a trip to the Maple Leaf Festival. He was then a farmer and too busy during fall harvest to go, Vickers said. He is still busy during Maple Leaf weekend. But as owner of Antiques on the Prairie at the corner of Sixth and High streets, he is now in the middle of the event that brings an estimated 30,000 visitors the third weekend in October to Baldwin City. “I totally want to thank the men who put this together all those years ago to create revenue for all the businesses and bring a parade by my front door,” Vickers said. Like many other Baldwin City business owners, Vickers is planning special attractions to entice some of the festival throng into his store. Food vendors will be in his parking lot offering brats and sauerkraut and barbecue. Mike Langrehr, owner of the Town Galleria, 715 Eighth St., said the festival offered an assurance to his business. “It’s a good feeling to know there will be a time of year you’re going to get customers,” he said. “You usually only get that at Christmastime.” The shop plans something different every year, Langrehr said. This year, the store will have T-shirts, but in the last 12 months Langrehr also took over the bistro that others have run in the front of his store in the past. He will be offering breakfast and lunch specials,
as well as coffee and soft drinks. But Langrehr knows the sidewalk in front of his store will be lined with vendors offering food and multiple wares to compete with the items he and his consignment vendors have for sale within the store. “This will be the first time for the restaurant,” he said. “I have no idea what is going to happen. We’re going to just get ready and try to catch their attention.” Langrehr and Vickers said the benefit of Maple Leaf wasn’t limited to the weekend of the festival. They have customers return weeks or months later when things are less hectic. “I’ve had people tell me they came back because they didn’t have enough time to look around during Maple Leaf,” Vickers said. For Jessica Worley, manager of the Kwik Shop at the corner of Sixth and Ames streets, planning for the festival starts three weeks before the vendors and crowds descend on Baldwin City. That’s when she starts communicating with her vendors to ensure the store’s shelves will be full. All the store’s employees are scheduled to work festival weekend, and it would take a family emergency or serious illness for someone to be excused from a shift, Worley said. In the past, she has had to request additional clerks from Kwik Shop stores in Lawrence. The store always offers something special to tie into the festival, such as cookies packaged like those offered by vendors, Worley said. “It’s our busiest weekend of the year,” Worley said. “It’s hectic, but it’s fun. I look forward to it.”
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Volunteers use a two-by-four to mark off space for a vendor’s booth before the 2008 festival. Volunteers perform many tasks to make the festival run smoothly.
Volunteers make festival possible By Elvyn Jones ejones@theworldco.com
The city’s wonderful fall foliage and vendors may be the Maple Leaf Festival’s attraction, but it is the work of volunteers that make it a success. The effort is led by the all-volunteer Maple Leaf Committee. The committee meets every month except December and will start organizing the 2013 event in November. The committee, whose 24 members gathered at its last monthly meeting in October to coordinate final details of the festival, is but the core of the volunteers who make the festival possible. Once the festival starts, volunteers pitch in to help with such things as manning the festival information table in front of the Baldwin City Chamber of Commerce building at Eighth and High streets, taking turns at the public address microphone across the street on the festival stage, manning street barricades and driving trams shuttling visitors from downtown to more farflung activities. “Our volunteers make it possible for the festival to run smoothly,” said Amber Roden, 2012 Maple Leaf Festival chairwoman. “We have so many people help keep the festival clean and safe.” Donna Curran, and two-time past committee chairwoman, went further. “The festival wouldn’t be possible
without volunteers,” she said. There are a few complicated jobs, requiring mobilization of volunteers. Two youth groups pitch in to help perform two of those tasks. Curran said the Baldwin First United Methodist Church youth will help her Friday with the difficult task of putting down the tape marking out the space where the 300 craft vendors and 17 food vendors will set up in Saturday’s early morning hours. Picking up the tape and all other trash left behind by the other 30,000 Maple Leaf Festival visitors falls to Baldwin City Boy Scout Troop 65. Richard Dietz, assistant Scoutmaster, said that tape would be part of the Scouts’ final cleanup, which he said used techniques Scouts learn at camps and perfected under Roger Boyd’s many years of leadership. “At the end of Sunday, we walk the line side-by-side from one side of the street to the other and pick up every little gum wrapper. It’s a Boy Scout tradition to leave a camp clearer than when we arrived. The streets of Baldwin really will be cleaner Sunday night than before the festival,” Dietz said. The end-of-festival cleanup is just part the of the Boy Scouts’ trash=removal efforts. Throughout Saturday and Sunday, Scouts will walk festival streets checking to see if the 55-gallon trash and recycling barrels need emptied in trash bins located in alleys, Dietz said.
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Viewers enjoy works on display at a recent Maple Leaf Festival Quilt Show. The show was moved to the Baldwin Elementary School Intermediate Center last year, a space that gives organizers more room to display the 100 quilts in the show. File photo
Once a sideshow, quilt show now big part of Maple Leaf By Meagan Thomas mthomas@theworldco.com
For the past 41 years, the annual Maple Leaf Festival Quilt Show has been a way for quilters to display their work to the public, but the event has evolved from a show to a teaching opportunity. “It shows the history of the quilts and gets people interested in it,” said Connie Mollett, a member of the Maple Leaf Quilt Guild. The display began as a small sideshow to the Maple Leaf Festival and has grown to more than 100 quilts. The quilts are all different. Some have themes, others are more technical and some are heirlooms, but all of the quilts tell a story about the quilter and the history of quilting. “That’s our heritage,” said quilt guild treasurer Cathy Miles. “Seeing something that someone slept under maybe 100 years ago, it gives you something to think about.” Last year, the quilt show had quilts made by children as young as 10 years old to women who had been quilting for more than 50 years. The guild hopes for the same diversity and numbers this year. “It’s just amazing to see the variety and the different skill levels and techniques people use,” Miles said.
Vendors from area quilting and fabric stores will also be at the show with products and demonstrations for interested guests. Those attending will have the chance to win a quilt. Tickets are available for $1 or six tickets for $5. The quilt has a maple leaf theme and is brown, gold and black. The money from the tickets helps pay for the cost of the quilt and support the guild. “We try to do charity things and such, and this just helps us to do that,” Mollett said. The location of the show was changed to the Baldwin Elementary School Intermediate Center last fall ,and although some people had a problem finding the show, it worked out because the ample space of the gymnasium made room for extra quilts. Miles said with the extra space it’s hard not to go overboard and show as many quilts as possible. “I ended up with too many last year, so I’m trying to keep a better perspective this year,” she said. The Quilt Show will be from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday in the Baldwin Intermediate Center gymnasium. It is free and open to the public. There is free parking for the show at the center and a shuttle to and from the quilt show and town.
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Festival finds right balance, for now By Meagan Thomas mthomas@theworldco.info
In recent years, the size of the Maple Leaf Festival has continued to grow. With more than 300 craft booths, a quilt show, 17 food vendors and activities ranging from a parade to carnival rides, a person could easily spend a full day in Baldwin City and still not see everything the festival has to offer. Currently there are no plans to expand Maple Leaf further, but there are some limits as to how much the festival could grow. Sharon Vesecky, festival committee secretary, said the committee is seeking the right balance of vendors and attendance. The more vendors there are, the less money each makes — unless attendance increases. “If we do continue to see a growth in the vendors requesting booths at the festival, the committee would need to get more people to come to Maple Leaf and we’d need more volunteers,” Vesecky said. Baldwin City government provides traffic control, utility services and law enforcement, and help erecting signs.
“In terms of manpower, we rely on other agencies from the area, law enforcement, to help with those type of things, so growth wouldn’t threaten anything we do,” said Chris Lowe, Baldwin City administrator. The festival committee has made adjustments over the years to accommodate the growth in vendors and guests. The committee has added features, such as the children’s parade and kids’ zone, relocated events and booths, and improved tram operations. Another improvement the committee made is satellite parking at the junior high and high schools. This allows visitors to park conveniently and catch a bus to and from their car without walking long distances. “Each year after the festival, the committee addresses a potential snag and spends the rest of the year trying to improve it for the next year,” Vesecky said. For now, the festival will continue at its current size, but Vesecky said that, big or small, the festival has a need for the same thing every year. “We’re always looking for more volunteers,” she said.
Beer gardens new this year to Maple Leaf By Elvyn Jones ejones@theworldco.info
The Maple Leaf Festival will take on an Oktoberfest feel this year with two beer gardens. A new feature at the festival, the beer gardens will not be open on Maple Leaf’s closing day Sunday. One of the beer gardens will be in the street in a fenced-in area in front of Moni’s Seafood and Barbecue, 711 High St. Jon Cook, owner of Moni’s with his wife, Monica, said the restaurant’s beer garden would be open Friday and Saturday and manned by two
off-duty police officers. The wine and mixed drinks available inside the restaurant will not be offered in the beer garden, Cook said. The Baldwin Soccer Supporters will offer the second beer garden on Sixth Street south of the Grove Street tennis courts. Richard Dietz said the soccer group would have two booths at the location, a traditional food booth and the beer garden. Beer would be served in plastic cups and would have to be consumed within the fencing that encloses the beer garden, Dietz said. The garden only would be open Saturday afternoon, he said.
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Lawrence residents urged to use U.S. 59 if driving to Maple Leaf By Elvyn Jones ejones@theworldco.com
Lawrence residents planning to attend the Maple Leaf Festival should know the trip to Baldwin City would be a great time to try out the new four-lane U.S. Highway 59 — or to say goodbye to the old two-lane road if the new highway isn’t yet open. That is because construction has closed about 1.5 miles of Douglas County Road 1055, the alternate route to Baldwin City. County Road 1055, which is Sixth Street in Baldwin City, is currently closed at the bottom of Baldwin Hill, a mile north of the Baldwin City limits. The official detour directs motorists coming south on 1055 west at Douglas County 460 to U.S. 59 five miles to the west. Traffic is then back to Baldwin City on U.S. Highway 56. The unofficial detour local residents use involve narrow gravel roads, lots of turns and probably other headaches if packed with festival traffic. As always for the festival, the city will close some Baldwin City streets and make others one-way. In addition, parking will be restricted on many downtown streets. With that in mind, out-of-town visi-
tors are encouraged to park in outlying parking lots and ride buses to and from the festival. Baldwin City Councilman Coy Weege said out-of-town visitors would be able to park and get bus rides at Baldwin schools. Baldwin Elementary School Primary Center, 500 Lincoln St., and Baldwin Elementary School Intermediate School, 100 Bullpup Drive, would be the most convenient park-and-ride locations for those coming from Lawrence on U.S. 56. The Baldwin Middle and High school campus on 400 block of Eisenhower Street is the better option for those traveling from the east on U.S. 56. Signage on the highway will direct visitors to the park-and-ride locations. Parking will be prohibited Saturday and Sunday on Eighth Street between Ames and Indiana streets. Vehicles parked on the streets will be towed. Parking will be banned on High Street from Ninth Street to U.S. 56 on Saturday because of the parade. Ninth Street will be converted to a northbound oneway street, and 10th Street a one-way street for southbound traffic. Those attending the festival are reminded there is a no-dog policy. The rule has been in enforced the last five years.
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An Army band marches down one of Baldwin City’s brick streets during a recent Maple Leaf Festival Parade. Those attending this year’s parade can expect band, floats and candidates taking advantage of a large crowd to campaign for the coming election.
Parade to kick off Maple Leaf Festival By Meagan Thomas mthomas@theworldco.com
Maple Leaf Festival Committee Parade Chairman Jeremy Rodrock said guests can expect great bands and many floats during the 2012 Maple Leaf Parade on Saturday. The grand marshals of the Maple Leaf Festival parade, voted on by the Maple Leaf Festival Committee, are Jim and Diane Niehoff. Diane is a cofounder of the Lumberyard Arts Center, and the two and are “outstanding citizens of the Baldwin City community,” Rodrock said. The Niehoffs, along with Maple Leaf Scholars Austin Krause and Kaitlyn Barnes will lead the parade. Rodrock said one of the highlights of the parade will be a patriotic float by Patriot Project Inc. The float will be staged on Eighth Street between Baker and Chapel streets after the parade. “It talks about patriotism and different things like that,” Rodrock said. “It
should be interesting.” This year’s election will add numbers to the parade, as well. Rodrock said viewers can expect to see candidates, their representatives and organizations encouraging voting in the parade. Along with political participants, there will be about 10 marching bands and some car clubs. A children’s parade is also scheduled to start at 10:45 a.m. so children can walk or ride bikes, starting at the corner of Sixth and High streets. Although it is helpful for parade participants to register ahead of time, it isn’t necessary. Anyone showing up at High Street and U.S. Highway 56 before the parade starts will get a place in the lineup. The Maple Leaf Parade will begin at 11 a.m. Saturday at Third and High streets. The route will travel down High Street, turn north onto Sixth Street and end at Baker Street. Rodrock said the parade would last from 60 to 90 minutes.