The 200 and 300 blocks of Scott Street were lined with haystacks Saturday as many merchants there took their wares to the sidewalks and children bobbed for apples during the BIA’s inaugural “Harvest Festival.”
While most businesses went all out, standing scarecrows on the sidewalk or offering games for kids, BIA secretary Laurie Beadle said the event was just a moderate success.
“Being its first year, a lot of people didn’t know about it,” she remarked.
“But the people who were downtown seemed to enjoy what we had to offer,” added Beadle, noting some of the crowd which had gathered for the mural ceremony earlier Saturday stuck around to see what the festival had to offer.
BIA chair Ted Debenetti noted the reaction from merchants was mixed. “I made an effort to go to everyone who was participating and get some feedback,” he said.
“A lot of them were happy. Some applauded the effort, and some weren’t sure whether it had made a difference to their business that day.
“I know my traffic was up,” said Debenetti, owner of A Buck or Two, adding the “Fly-in, Drive-in” barbecue at the airport drew a large crowd which might otherwise have gone downtown on any other Saturday.
“These things take time to build up. If we can get more people out, it’ll be a little better next time around,” he remarked.
Beadle noted the harvest festival could just be the tip of the iceberg for BIA events beyond the annual “Mall Day” in late June in conjunction with Fun in the Sun.
“Well, there’s a lot of things that haven’t been confirmed yet so I can’t let the cat out of the bag. But there are some very exciting projects in the works,” she said.
Saturday’s inaugural event included sidewalk sales, a corn roast to raise funds for the Chamber of Commerce beautification committee, kids’ activities at the museum, and pony rides.
There also were square dancers and performances by Fort Dance Studio, as well as a haystack dig for prizes and a buffet at the Rainy Lake Hotel.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
