A picture perfect weekend

The best Blueberry/Art Festival ever?Considering the event’s 24-year history and it’s traditionally large crowds, the 2004 event had to be very special to earn that description.But that’s just what festival organizer Rita Grose had to say last week, after she had a few days to wind down from the three-day frenzy at Whiteside Park.“This was absolutely the best as far as quality goes, and as far as attendance goes,” said Grose, who coordinates the event for the Ely Chamber of Commerce. “It was the best attendance we ever had, thanks to the weather.”Sunny skies, no threat of precipitation and comfortable 70-degree readings during all three days of the arts and craft show boosted crowds beyond even the usually jam-packed levels.Organizers estimate total attendance at 45,000 for the event, but the weather allowed for longer stays inside the park.“Last year our attendance was excellent but it was so hot people took one walk around the park and left,” said Grose. “These people stayed. I saw people in the morning and then I would see them again in the afternoon, and I was getting the same input from vendors.”Almost 250 vendors had set up shop by Friday, among them 221 arts and craft exhibitors - including about 40 here for the first time.Handmade furniture, tie-dyed T-shirts, clothing, clocks, signs and leatherwork were among the many items being offered for sale in the festival.Sales were brisk.“I’d say 99 percent of the vendors were overwhelmed,” said Grose. “They did extremely well. Some of my new vendors were awestruck. One said ‘where did all these people come from?’ Another said they should have brought a larger inventory.”Parking spaces were filled for blocks around the park and Ely even had some traffic jams during the event.Inside the park, the walkways were full for much of each day and there were long lines at the corridor of consumables - which included more than 30 options with festival staples such as hamburgers and fried bread to items such as gyro sandwiches and cheese curds.Some festival-goers stopped for a break and a beverage at the beer tent operated by the Ely Jaycees, while others took in festival entertainment, which included both music in the park bandshell as well as a dunk tank, children’s games and storytelling.And more than a few festival-goers did a double take - but shopping wasn’t interrupted - when a fawn ran through the park and past the big crowd.The festival also was completed without any serious incidents, unlike the end of the 2003 event when several Ely businesses were burglarized.“It went about as well as it could have,” said Ely Police Chief Archie Manning.Chamber organizers are turning their immediate attention to the second half of the community’s festival double-dip - the Fall Harvest Moon Festival (Sept. 9-11).And it’s not too early to mark the calendar for the 25th Blueberry/Art Festival, set for July 29-31, 2005.“It’s going to be kind of hard to top this year,” said Grose. its kind of toposoon going to be hard to top this yer...45,000, good guess....harvest moon,we're looking ahead to harvest moon.A typical Friday afternoon in Ely?That's hardly the case 51 weeks out of the year, but when that Friday is the opening day of Blueberry/Art Festival, it’s no surprise.The 24th annual festival kicked off Friday under sunny skies, with comfortable temperatures and in traditional fashion, with crowds filling the park well before the official noon start-up.By the end of the weekend, more than 45,000 people were expected to pass through the park for the arts and crafts show.A steady stream of cars filed into Ely Friday morning, and license plates from around the country were spotted near Whiteside.The festival attracts quite a mix - from former Ely residents returning home for the weekend to tourists who make the Blueberry spectacular part of their annual vacation plans.Lines were already forming at many booths Friday, andPutting it all together is a task in itself for the Ely Chamber of Commerce, which sponsors the event.Chamber organizers were busy on opening day making sure exhibitors were in their proper space, and tending to any and all last-minute details.And despite the mass of humanity descending on the park and the need for some to venture out onto the surrounding avenues just for elbow-room, the event appeared to begin without a hitch.Lodging facilities were filled around the region last weekend, and the community’s streets and sidewalks were busy during the week.And near the park, others were hoping to cash in on some festival overflow.Members of Ely’s high school cross country ski team were allowed to man school parking lots and sold parking space for $5 per vehicle.Several signs, meanwhile, directed festival visitors to the Ely Arena, where for the fifth consecutive year, Ely’s high school hockey team held a flea market and craft show.The flea market serves as the only fundraiser of the year for the high school hockey program.