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Register. PAGE A-3Iff cTTTjT H :. M' t f ]' *v 'St • ». tlt; A • ' jnT' **V * 4 * fc ^ » i— ' • ft ft. i#ft. t ■ «r I ft W| J T1 ^ % /v1One-dayeventcalled successBy JIM GETZS£a// WriterDespite Friday’s forbodingweather and a relatively short time for the Sandusky Javcees to prepare, Saturday’s “Festival of the Grapes” on the Jackson Street dock was termed a moderate success by thoseThe Jaycees, who took over the event from the Erie County Visitors and Convention Bureau in May, decided in late August to hold only a one-day festival instead of the traditional three-day celebration because there was not time to attract enough vendors to make a profit.But, said Jaycees President Brad Roth. “Considering the time we had to put things together, everyone who’s come down has had a good time.”Lynn Baumeister of The Friends of the Boeckling, the group that ran the fete in 1984 and 1985, claimed the festival attracted 11,000 and 30,000 visitors in those years, respectively. Joan Van Offeren, director of the visitors’ bureau, said the 1986 numbers matched those of the previous year.So how does the 1987 version compare? Roth said attendance was difficult to judge for the one-day event, but there were at least a few hundred visitors on the dock during the 6 p.m. hour.Roth said the Jaycees, not able to stage a large celebrat ion, decided to go with “quality” instead of “quantity.” After the numbers and profits are totaled, the Jaycees’ grape festival committee will recommend w hether the group should sponsor nextyear’s event.Profits will go toward Jaycee service projects such as youth athletics, a drug abuse seminar and a Christmas party for senior citizens.On another business front, two vendors said their business was almost as good or better than last year.Bob Frank, a seller of T-shirts and other wares from Geneva-on-the-Lake, said he made almost as much money Saturday as he would have on any other Saturday during the former three-day event.“We might be down a little bit, but we’re doing OK,” he said. “We thought we would be rained out and we’re doing almost as good (as usual).”Frank said the Jaycees did a good job in the short time they had to put the festival together, “if a few more people would get behind this, it could be a real good show,” he said.Joe Loris, who with his wife, Kathy, ran a booth selling balloons, buttons and other things “grapish,” said, “We’veSUNDAY SEPT. 20, 1987Register photo - PAUL UTTERMOHl.KNSour grapes ? Amy Randles (left) and Holly Corso take their turn as targets for the Camp Fire youth sponge toss at the Festival of the Grapes in downtown Sandusky Saturday afternoon.‘Considering the time we had to put thingstogether, everyone who’s come down has had a good time.’-done as much business today as we did in three days last year.“It turned out to be a beautiful day because it rained all week and people wanted to get out,” said Loris, who operates Loris Printing and Party Center.The Lorises said their only complaint was the size of the vending tent; they wanted more space.Rounding out the day was the Sandusky rock group EXCEL, whose members are either attending or are alumni of Perkins High School.In fact, the group’s youngest member. Chad Goebel, a sophomore who playskeyboards, has penned the band’s first single, “Promise Me,” a ballad now playing on local radio stations.Steve Brownell. 18, the group’s lead guitarist and lead singer, says “Promise Me” is a sign of the band’s promise after a long road of banging away Top 40 tunes in parents' living rooms, junior high dances and weddings.“We’ve got six years under our belt and we’re just getting to the point of recording now,” he said of anyone who thinks the rock music creates overnight successes.The two other members of theband are bassist Robin Lang, 19, and drummer Greg Stacy, 21, who made his first public appearance with EXCELSaturday.And, of course, the grape festival is never complete without the grape stomp, in which supposedly mature adolescents and adults crush five pounds of grapes with their bare feet for 60 seconds to make juice and purple toes.The 1987 grand champion turned out to be Bob Logan, Can ton, Ohio, who squeezed out inches of juice, a festival record. Logan had to face Sanduskian Jim Strickler in a “stomp off* after each man created V* in ches of juice,The woman’s winner was Therese Roth, Sandusky, with 3% inches, while Heather LaMarca and Torn Mack, bothof Sandusky, garnered thejunior division honors with S and 3*2 inches, respectively.
Newspaper Details
Sandusky Sunday Register
Sandusky, Ohio, US
Sun, Sep 20, 1987
Page 3
Full Page
Clipped by
Sandusky P.
OH, USA 16 Sep 2021
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