Monday's Internet Edition, October 06, 2008.
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| A youngster waves to her family while riding a pony at the Festival of Five Hills Saturday. – Photo by LARRY HAUK |
News editor - Copperas Cove’s largest festival, the Festival of Five Hills, has closed shop for another year.
The festival had an excellent turnout, said Copperas Cove Chamber of Commerce and Visitor’s Bureau Executive Director David Landmann. “It was a record year,” he said.
One way the chamber judges how well a festival did is in terms of the money collected from the carnival, said Landmann. This year’s carnival broke last year’s record by $1,000 and brought in more money than any other festival over the last 27 years, he said.
However, the Cory Morrow concert was not as successful, Landmann said, due in part to the military’s deployment. “But we still had a good response,” he said. Approximately 500 people attended the concert, he said.
It’s too early to tell what improvements will be made for the next Festival of Five Hills, said Landmann, but an after action meeting is scheduled for next week to discuss possibilities.
Landmann said the bands that performed at Fester’s House in the Cove City Park were excellent. “I hope next year’s festival includes more live music,” he said.
The Grand Marshall of Saturday’s parade, former POW CW2 David Williams, received a tremendous response, said Landmann. “People stood up and clapped for him.” Williams was very humble, he said.
Landmann credits the festival’s success to various city departments. “We could not have done this without the help and minute-by-minute cooperation of the city,” he said.
Among those he thanked were the Parks and Recreation Department, police department, streets department and electricians. “Everyone did a great job,” he said.
The festival’s vendors didn’t fare as well this year as they have in the past. Terry Beekman, commercial vendors chairperson, said vendor sales were down. She said vendors told her that many people were milling around but few were buying. However, a few vendors said sales were excellent.
“Food vendors did well,” said Beekman. “There were always long lines at the food booths.”
Beekman said there was a large variety of vendor sales, including candles, computer accessories and jewelry. Other booths offered pony rides, a petting zoo, a palm reader and a dunking booth. Beekman said the waters wars booth sponsored by Margarita Momma was very popular.
At least one injury was sustained during the festival. A 30-year-old female resident of Copperas Cove was struck in the head by a softball. The woman was transported to the hospital, said a Copperas Cove Fire Department spokesperson. The department would not release the woman’s name.