ThisWeek CW 09122013
Great weather brought out great crowds for this year’s 93rd annual Canal Winchester Labor Day Festival.
Other than a shower Saturday night, Aug. 31, that chased away some of the crowd, participation in the event was good, according to Mayor Michael Ebert.
“Turnout was good even considering that Saturday night, the rain that came through put a damper on things, but the band played on and for those people that were there, they heard a great set,” Ebert said. “In fact, we had great entertainment this year and got lots of positive comments about that.”
As always, he said, the committee starts planning right away for the next year’s Labor Day Festival, hoping for an even bigger event, but he said it will take a lot to top this year’s entertainment.
“We’re already planning on an even bigger and better event for next year, and entertainmentwise, we’re not going to let up. We’re going to go for everything we can afford,” Ebert said.
Saturday’s opening event, the Peggy Wood Scholarship Pageant, provides scholarships to Canal Winchester students. It went off without a hitch, with 13 winners across the Tiny Miss, Little Miss, Junior Miss and Miss Canal Winchester competitions.
They are:
* Miss Canal Winchester, Alexandra Bernowski; first attendant, Leigha Foster; second attendant, Haley Newton; Miss Congeniality, Melissa Goolsby.
* Junior Miss Canal Winchester, Lauren Robson; first attendant, Alison Distefano; second attendant, Wren Jackson.
* Little Miss Canal Winchester, Graciella Lortz; first attendant, Madison Burris; second attendant, Delaney Six.
* Tiny Miss Canal Winchester, Shelby Noble; first attendant, Lillianna Lortz; second attendant Cassandra Speer.
Sunday’s car show was back up in numbers this year as well, with about 180 cars in total, and the kiddie tractor pull was a big hit, according to Ebert, bringing out 70 participants.
This year’s parade grand marshals were longtime family business owners. Ebert said 13 of 19 qualifying owners showed up to participate.
“Reaction to our parade marshals was great,” he said. “We set a record for the number of sponsors we had this year, which I think shows how much the business community appreciates the event and how we appreciate them.”
When pressed to name his favorite part of the weekend, Ebert referred to the entertainment and energy of the crowd.
“I think my favorite was the Sunday night entertainment — great music and just a lot of people really loving it, with everybody dancing and singing along,” he said.