|
|
|
He admitted the cherry tacos are enough reason to go to the Cherry Festival, but what really makes the event worth it for Matt Slater is seeing his hard work pay off.
“When I come to the Cherry Festival, I see the mile-long fencing we set up, and I know that I was a part of making the festival happen,” said Slater, 17.
He, and about 15 other teens from Washington High School’s Leadership Challenge volunteer group, helped with the first stage of festival setup Saturday, constructing fences around the perimeter of the festival and also around the various tents that house food vendors, merchants and the beer garden.
The four-day event kicks off tonight with a community dinner from 5 to 7 p.m. at Merchant’s Hall and continues through Saturday, with plenty of cherry-themed festivities to take part in, such as the Cherry Pit Spit, the Cherry Cookery Contest and Cherry-Oke, to name a few.
Carol Hamilton, executive director of the Washington Chamber of Commerce, which puts on the annual event, said an estimated 30,000 people, including plenty from Washington, will attend during the four days of the event.
“It’s nice to have some place to gather with your family and friends and somewhere to be able to say hello to your neighbors,” Hamilton said.
Months of planning and about of week of intense manual labor make the festival happen.
Setup started Saturday morning, as workers from B & S Tent Rental in Macomb constructed tents, and volunteers helped set up fencing and mow the grass inside the tents.
It continued Sunday, as the tents were wired for electricity, and carnival workers from Wilson Family Shows set up rides and games.
Preparations went on hiatus for Memorial Day, but volunteers were back at it Tuesday, bringing in freezers, refrigerators, chairs, tables and other essentials.
The CEFCU Main Stage and the sound system will go up today, and concessions and merchants will move in Thursday and Friday. But that is not the end of it.
“There’s still a lot to do when the actual festival is going on,” Hamilton said. “There are a lot of little things left.
“We don’t really let out our breath until Sunday evening after the festival.”
Hamilton said the chamber is grateful for the hundreds of local volunteers who set up the festival and keep it running smoothly.
“I think unless you have volunteered for something of this magnitude, you don’t realize how much work it is,” she said. “It’s definitely not a one-man show. It takes hundreds of people, even though we don’t always have hundreds.”
He admitted the cherry tacos are enough reason to go to the Cherry Festival, but what really makes the event worth it for Matt Slater is seeing his hard work pay off.
“When I come to the Cherry Festival, I see the mile-long fencing we set up, and I know that I was a part of making the festival happen,” said Slater, 17.
He, and about 15 other teens from Washington High School’s Leadership Challenge volunteer group, helped with the first stage of festival setup Saturday, constructing fences around the perimeter of the festival and also around the various tents that house food vendors, merchants and the beer garden.
The four-day event kicks off tonight with a community dinner from 5 to 7 p.m. at Merchant’s Hall and continues through Saturday, with plenty of cherry-themed festivities to take part in, such as the Cherry Pit Spit, the Cherry Cookery Contest and Cherry-Oke, to name a few.
Carol Hamilton, executive director of the Washington Chamber of Commerce, which puts on the annual event, said an estimated 30,000 people, including plenty from Washington, will attend during the four days of the event.
“It’s nice to have some place to gather with your family and friends and somewhere to be able to say hello to your neighbors,” Hamilton said.
Months of planning and about of week of intense manual labor make the festival happen.
Setup started Saturday morning, as workers from B & S Tent Rental in Macomb constructed tents, and volunteers helped set up fencing and mow the grass inside the tents.
It continued Sunday, as the tents were wired for electricity, and carnival workers from Wilson Family Shows set up rides and games.
Preparations went on hiatus for Memorial Day, but volunteers were back at it Tuesday, bringing in freezers, refrigerators, chairs, tables and other essentials.
The CEFCU Main Stage and the sound system will go up today, and concessions and merchants will move in Thursday and Friday. But that is not the end of it.
“There’s still a lot to do when the actual festival is going on,” Hamilton said. “There are a lot of little things left.
“We don’t really let out our breath until Sunday evening after the festival.”
Hamilton said the chamber is grateful for the hundreds of local volunteers who set up the festival and keep it running smoothly.
“I think unless you have volunteered for something of this magnitude, you don’t realize how much work it is,” she said. “It’s definitely not a one-man show. It takes hundreds of people, even though we don’t always have hundreds.”
But the local buzz and eagerness leading up to the festival make all the work worth it, Hamilton said.
“One of the most exciting things to me is seeing all the young kids who know it’s coming,” she said. “They see the tents go up and say, ‘The Cherry Festival is coming! The Cherry Festival is coming!”
Jim Kellerstrass, operations manager for the festival, said it is the community support that keeps the festival going.
“It wouldn’t be a success if the community didn’t get excited about it,” he said.
