The gray skies in the morning may have slowed down Sunday's Applefest crowd and car show participants, but as the day rolled on, the forecast for rain kept getting pushed back. And the cars kept rolling in.
It may not have been a record Applefest Sunday, but there were still thousands of folks wanderting in and out of the crafters and food vendor rows when they weren't walking freely up and down a closed to traffic Liberty Street checking out the dozens of classic cars that sat proudly on display with their owners braving the weather.
Forecast be damned, this is Applefest gosh darn it and perhaps one year of pandemic could take away this annual gathering of souls and funnel cake eaters, but not this year. This year, tens of thousands of apples were handed out and a great deal of money was spent and received as people from all around the region had fun.
It may not have been a record Applefest Sunday, but there were still thousands of folks wanderting in and out of the crafters and food vendor rows when they weren't walking freely up and down a closed to traffic Liberty Street checking out the dozens of classic cars that sat proudly on display with their owners braving the weather.
Forecast be damned, this is Applefest gosh darn it and perhaps one year of pandemic could take away this annual gathering of souls and funnel cake eaters, but not this year. This year, tens of thousands of apples were handed out and a great deal of money was spent and received as people from all around the region had fun.
"Holy Moly! What a weekend." said Jodi Baker Lewis, Franklin Area Chamber director. She said that Friday and Saturday of this, from the vendor's standpoint saw record crowds. The weather those two day was perfect, almost summer-like and sunny. "The core committee and I couldn't be happier with the way things went she said."
Many vendors indeed said it was good. One server of hand carved wooden sculptures and ornaments said they sold over $15,000 in one day. Food vendors ran out of supplies and some even had to close up their tents early having run out of their offerings.
Photographs taken of the event showed that people bought items even though they had to lug them several blocks to get back to their car. Parking spaces near the festival were lucky to find, even on Friday. One guy was looking like his arms grew a couple inches as he carried two gallon jugs to his car parked way out past Riverfront Park. "My arms are Barkin'" he said as he sped out in front of his wife who was carrying a pretty hefty sack of McIntoshes as she tried corralling her two kids. The look on her face indicated she wished they thought through their purchase decision a little more.
A few blocks later I saw a dude carrying a carved wooded pumpkin the size of a hefty tree stump. He just took it a block at a time stopping to rest wherever he could without having to put the heavy sculpture on the ground, fearing he'd have to then pick it up again. He admitted his love for his wife who truly wanted this for their home.
A three and a half foot carved wooden Sasquatch seemed like the right purchase for a couple, who them, walking along Liberty Street admitted that it was a better idea a hundred yards back than it was when their car was not even in sight yet.
Photographs taken of the event showed that people bought items even though they had to lug them several blocks to get back to their car. Parking spaces near the festival were lucky to find, even on Friday. One guy was looking like his arms grew a couple inches as he carried two gallon jugs to his car parked way out past Riverfront Park. "My arms are Barkin'" he said as he sped out in front of his wife who was carrying a pretty hefty sack of McIntoshes as she tried corralling her two kids. The look on her face indicated she wished they thought through their purchase decision a little more.
A few blocks later I saw a dude carrying a carved wooded pumpkin the size of a hefty tree stump. He just took it a block at a time stopping to rest wherever he could without having to put the heavy sculpture on the ground, fearing he'd have to then pick it up again. He admitted his love for his wife who truly wanted this for their home.
A three and a half foot carved wooden Sasquatch seemed like the right purchase for a couple, who them, walking along Liberty Street admitted that it was a better idea a hundred yards back than it was when their car was not even in sight yet.
 |  |
| One thing for sure though, even though there were fewer vehicles this year, people shill love car shows. I admit I'm not a car show kinda guy, but I am a people living their life kinda guy, and if people love car shows, I love trying to document that. I seldom ever think I grasp that story in the photosI make, but I keep trying. My friend Jim Stefanucci used to capture the love of cars in people, I've been trying to duplicate his work for over 20 years now and other than a small handful of times, I just can't get what he found in people's fascination with motors and metal. Of course, he likes cars and motors. |  |
 |  |
Sunday's car show ended this year's Applefest until next year where the dates are already set. October 7,8 and 9 if you want to mark your calendars and if you're living out of town, book your travel plans now.
Below are just a few more photos from Sunday.
 |  |
Festival food is something folks just can't get enough of..Seems the kettle corn folks especially are sought out as I saw probably a hundred folks toting around yardstick long bags of the stuff and I'll admit I saw perhaps one too many tongues this weekend as people just seemed all have ice bream cones.
Same mirror, two views. I admit I am a reflections junkie. Always seeing the world as something to explore in a different way. I read once that a reflection isn't reality and it's a fascinating philosophical conundrum that I just keep on exploring, as silly as that may sound.
RSS Feed