MINOA — The Village of Minoa held its 11th annual Festival in the Park from noon to night on Saturday, Sept. 7.
Because the forecast correctly predicted it would rain on and off for most of the day, the festivities were moved inside the Lewis Park pole barn. Normally the festival would have taken place on the grass and gravel of the park on South Main Street with live music under the gazebo, but Mayor Bill Brazill said the pole barn makes for a handy secondary option.
“It gives an opportunity to continue having the event because we would’ve had to cancel otherwise,” Brazill said. “We wouldn’t have been able to be out there.”
Even though there was more rain than shine, Brazill said the event and the village were still “shining brightly” that day as he likes to say, evidenced by the undeterred face painting station and balloon-making magician and the “fantastic sounds” of the musical acts that still set up and went onstage, only inside rather than outside.
From 3 to 5 p.m., the well-traveled local singer and keyboard player Tom Chick performed in the barn, and the party band Mood Swing followed with a set from 6 to 8 that evening that saw them segue seamlessly from The Romantics’ “What I Like About You” into John Mellencamp’s “R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.”
During the breaks in her band’s performance, lead singer of Mood Swing Danielle Rausa went around with her microphone and introduced the group of vendors participating in the festival, which included crafters with blankets, pillows and fleece sweaters as well as sellers of sterling silver necklaces, quartz crystal earrings, and button epoxy art pieced together to spell out messages like “I love you to the moon and back” and “teach, love, inspire.”
Brazill and his wife Cyndee were there manning the stand containing T-shirts, long sleeves, hoodies and crew necks emblazoned with the Minoa abbreviation “NOA” and the Minoa Methodist Church came prepared with a table full of sweets baked by its members containing everything from brownie bites and pumpkin bread to coconut macaroon cookies.
Before treating themselves to dessert, attendees could also purchase chicken barbecue meals with baked beans and salt potatoes cooked by American Legion Post 1102 or else a hot dog or coney from the Bob Barker’s Famous food truck for lunch or dinner.
Later on there was a controlled bonfire made from a stack of pallets torched by the Minoa Fire Department, and the festival concluded with fireworks in the night sky.
