Garrettsville – The 15th Annual Garrettsville Summerfest is in the books and what a luau it was. The party started Friday night and the small village was a sea of Hawaiian shirts and leis, transforming the village into a tropical paradise. The beer was flowing in the beer garden and the bands were a-rockin’. All seemed great but then the rains came and sent people scurrying for cover. After a two-hour rain interruption, the bands started playing again and folks were kickin’ it up. The evening was a little soggy but fun, none-the-less.
The pass, punt and kick, contest started early Saturday and was a success. Folks started pouring into town for the tractor parade and the motorcycle stunt show. Following the parade, there was plenty to see and do. The hamburger-eating, ice cream-eating contests, music of every genre and a rubber duck race were big hits in the afternoon as well
Although there were a few splash and dash showers on Saturday in the early afternoon, it didn’t dampen the spirits of the people who came down town to party. The party continued and the downtown area was wailin’ all-day Saturday and well into Saturday night. The Motley Crue Tribute band was a big hit and folks traveled from all over to see them.
There were other options for those that weren’t into that. They enjoyed the Jungle Terry’s Animal Show, the dance recital, the craft show or the car cruise, which brought in well over 100 cars. There were also pony rides, train rides and mechanical rides for all ages to enjoy. It was a weekend to remember.
Sunday started bright and early with the 5K /1-mile fun run/walk fundraiser for DIPG kids’ cancer research. Then, folks lined the streets for the grand parade which stepped- off without a hitch. Leading the grand parade was ”Mr. Summerfest” himself, The grand marshal, Aaron King. There were floats decked out in the aloha theme, the Marching Pride, fire trucks and more. It was a great parade. One float that was memorable was the S.S. Minnow that not only depicted the parade theme, but also promoted the Curtains- up Theater’s summer production of “Gilligan’s Island.” They did a fine job on that float!
As always, the event wrapped up with Garrettsville Idol. There were 20 contestants competing to be named the 2019 Garrettsville Idol. The youth winner was Ashley Yankello, the teen winner was Cheyenne Head and the adult winner was Josh Evans. Following the Idol competition was the car cash raffle. This year, they didn’t sell enough tickets to give away the Chevrolet Camaro, so the raffle went to a 50/50 drawing. The winner was Cheryl Gray, the second-place winner was for a mini vacation was Christopher Hammond, and Ellen Baird was the winner of the tickets to Kalahari.
Contest winners can be found online at garrettsvillesummerfest.com and in an upcoming edition of The Villager.
