It was a weekend with something for just about everyone in Skaneateles, as not less than five major events occurred in the village and the town July 13 through 15. Traffic was heavy, pedestrians abounded on the sidewalks and sandwich boards advertising all the different sales, shows and festivals covered the corners of Genesee and Jordan streets.
Residents and visitors chose last weekend from attending the Library book sale, the Skaneateles Antique Show, the Lockwood Lavender Festival, the St. James Church Green Fair and the community festival aspect of the Ride for Alive! bicycle ride at the American legion grounds on Jordan Street.
“This is a pretty bubbling place — isn’t it amazing?” said Mayor Marty Hubbard. “There’s clearly a high energy level over here, no question about it.”
Police Chief Lloyd Perkins said it was a “very busy” weekend with customer service calls for his department.
“We deal with this every summer. We’re used to it,” Perkins said. “I’d say were probably one of the busiest villages in Central New York when it comes to visitors.”
The bustling weekend kicked off Thursday, July 12 with the opening night of the Skaneateles Library’s annual book sale. Masses of people lined up along the State Street sidewalk adjacent to the library and around the large tent of books in the library’s back yard, all waiting for the M&T bank to chime 6 p.m. and the sale to officially open.
Sylvia Steen, from Nedrow, arrived at the library at 3:15 p.m. to be the first in line. “I come early every year. I like to look around and check things out over the [restraining] tape when nobody’s here,” she said. “I’m not a book dealer; I’m a book collector. I just love to read.”
Linda Arthur, a member of the Friends of the Library working the event, said, “It’s just nice to see all these people come out who still read — a book not a Kindle.”
The Skaneateles Antique Show, which occurred Saturday and Sunday in the Austin Park Pavilion, also had a large line waiting for the event to open, said co-chair Sherri Ross. “We feel it’s going very well so far,” she said Saturday afternoon.
Andy Naum, owner of Thomas Donnelly Antiques of Baldwinsville, said there was a “steady stream” of people in the pavilion, all very interested and eager to look around.
On Saturday, the St. James Church Environmental Ministry hosted its annual “Green Fair,” in which environmentally-friendly ideas, information and devices were showcased on the sidewalk outside the church on E. Genesee Street. Vendors had booths touting solar, wind and geothermal power devices; the Skaneateles Lake Association had a table full of information about the lake and even a “lake test” in which a person could test one cup of Skaneateles Lake water and one cup of expensive bottled water and see if they could tell the difference.
St. James church member and Village Trustee Jim Lanning participated in the event and promoted his rechargeable electric lawnmower, which runs on a battery and eliminates the need for gas and oil.
Also on Saturday, the first annual Ride for Alive! bicycle race to raise money for cancer survivors occurred throughout the town on four different courses. A community festival was also held on the grounds of the American Legion on Jordan Street with food, beverages and live music.
This was the first of three busy weekends in a row in Skaneateles, with the Curbstone Festival, Duck Dash, St. James Jumble Sale and kids fishing derby taking place the weekend of July 20; and the Skaneateles Antique and Classic Boat Show and the SKARTS Summer Gala occurring the weekend of July 27.
Jason Emerson is editor of the Skaneateles Press. He can be reached at [email protected].
