Hardon-Bi69-Ohio
Mar 30, 2008, 3:05 PM
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Maple Festival postponed again
Betsy Scott
BScott@News-Herald.com
03/25/2008
Email to a friendPost a CommentPrinter-friendly
Weather continues to plague 79-year-old event
In 2005, the Geauga County Maple Festival was interrupted by 1 1/2 feet of snow - the first time in 40 years that it was delayed by weather.
Now it's becoming a regular thing.
In the last four years, the celebration - known locally as the unofficial start of festival season - has only gone forward once as originally scheduled.
The four-day event on Chardon Square was to get under way Thursday. However, festival officials held an emergency meeting Saturday and voted to postpone it because of the remaining snow and the forecast for the week's end.
"We've walked the park and decided there's too much snow, and with the warm-up coming this weekend, the ground will be too saturated to support the rides and the tents," publicity director Cathy Baluch said.
"It's mostly safety issues we had to take into account."
The festival is rescheduled for April 10-13. Three non-weather-dependent activities will go on as planned this week: the queen contest, Thursday; the Maple Hall of Fame luncheon, Friday; and the Golden Old Timer's luncheon, Saturday.
The festival is always at the mercy of Mother Nature, falling the week after Easter.
"And, of course, with Easter being the earliest it has been in many years, that's the reason we're having such a hard time with weather issues," Baluch said.
"Next year, it will be in April, so the thought is it will be a whole lot nicer."
But Chardon has gotten walloped in April, too, in recent years.
The 2005 storm came the first weekend in that month, two days after the festival's start.
With rides and concessions immobilized in snow, an abbreviated version was scheduled for the following weekend.
Last year, the entire festival was postponed for the first time after Chardon got hit with nearly a foot of snow on Easter weekend, which fell in mid-April.
The festival has been canceled only three times in its 79-year history, but it was because of World War II, not the weather.
On the bright side, the weather was sunny and balmy during the rescheduled events in 2005 and '07, bringing out big crowds and helping recoup some of the income lost because of delays.
"Last year, we did experience a downturn in the revenue that we normally receive because of our concessionaires that couldn't come back," Baluch said.
She said donations are welcomed for the not-for-profit event, at P.O. Box 124, Chardon, OH, 44024.
Festival officials have more than 100 phone calls to make to notify parade participants.
Some lumberjack contestants fly in from out of state and must try to reschedule their plans.
Chardon Square business owners also are affected by the delay. Many of them close early or altogether during festival week because patron parking spaces are taken up by concessionaires and ride equipment, Beans coffee shop owner Dorothy Pastor said.
"The Maple Festival notified me on Saturday, so that helped to be able to plan the menu for this week and to know to get more food ordered in," she said.
However, a private party at her shop the evening of April 12 will have to be canceled, Pastor said.
The city of Chardon is 1.5 inches from tying its all-time March snowfall record of 41 inches, set back in 1960.
Brian Mitchell, of Cleveland's National Weather Service office, said the forecast for the next two weeks shows a continued trend of below-normal temperatures and above-average precipitation.
©The News-Herald 2008
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during the next couple of weeks
Partly cloudy 37°5 Day Forecast
News Search
Advanced search go
News Classifieds Yellow Pages Shopping Jobs Homes Cars AllAroundCleveland
Home JobsAutoReal EstateToday's DealsPlace An AdClassifiedsLake Co. Visitor's GuideMentor Chamber GuideWilloughby Chamber Guide
News
Top Stories
Local Sports
Community / Announcements
Elections 2008
Obituaries
Weather
Opinions/Editorials
AllAroundCleveland
Today's Ads
Photo Galleries
Home Delivery
Newspaper In Education (NIE)
Place Classified Ads
Ohio Lottery
Business
Special Sections
Personals
USA Weekend
Fun and Games
Lifestyles
Maps & Directions
Contact Us
EntertainmentMoviesTVCrosswordsHoroscopeFun & GamesSite ToolsYellow PagesPhoto Galleries7-Day ArchiveServicesSubscribePhoto ReprintsPlace An AdBrowse Today's AdsAdvertising InformationNewspaper in EducationCounty Kids Rates/Print DatesContact UsNews-Herald Jobs
Home : News : News : Top Stories
Top Stories
Maple Festival postponed again
Betsy Scott
BScott@News-Herald.com
03/25/2008
Email to a friendPost a CommentPrinter-friendly
Weather continues to plague 79-year-old event
In 2005, the Geauga County Maple Festival was interrupted by 1 1/2 feet of snow - the first time in 40 years that it was delayed by weather.
Now it's becoming a regular thing.
In the last four years, the celebration - known locally as the unofficial start of festival season - has only gone forward once as originally scheduled.
The four-day event on Chardon Square was to get under way Thursday. However, festival officials held an emergency meeting Saturday and voted to postpone it because of the remaining snow and the forecast for the week's end.
"We've walked the park and decided there's too much snow, and with the warm-up coming this weekend, the ground will be too saturated to support the rides and the tents," publicity director Cathy Baluch said.
"It's mostly safety issues we had to take into account."
The festival is rescheduled for April 10-13. Three non-weather-dependent activities will go on as planned this week: the queen contest, Thursday; the Maple Hall of Fame luncheon, Friday; and the Golden Old Timer's luncheon, Saturday.
The festival is always at the mercy of Mother Nature, falling the week after Easter.
"And, of course, with Easter being the earliest it has been in many years, that's the reason we're having such a hard time with weather issues," Baluch said.
"Next year, it will be in April, so the thought is it will be a whole lot nicer."
But Chardon has gotten walloped in April, too, in recent years.
The 2005 storm came the first weekend in that month, two days after the festival's start.
With rides and concessions immobilized in snow, an abbreviated version was scheduled for the following weekend.
Last year, the entire festival was postponed for the first time after Chardon got hit with nearly a foot of snow on Easter weekend, which fell in mid-April.
The festival has been canceled only three times in its 79-year history, but it was because of World War II, not the weather.
On the bright side, the weather was sunny and balmy during the rescheduled events in 2005 and '07, bringing out big crowds and helping recoup some of the income lost because of delays.
"Last year, we did experience a downturn in the revenue that we normally receive because of our concessionaires that couldn't come back," Baluch said.
She said donations are welcomed for the not-for-profit event, at P.O. Box 124, Chardon, OH, 44024.
Festival officials have more than 100 phone calls to make to notify parade participants.
Some lumberjack contestants fly in from out of state and must try to reschedule their plans.
Chardon Square business owners also are affected by the delay. Many of them close early or altogether during festival week because patron parking spaces are taken up by concessionaires and ride equipment, Beans coffee shop owner Dorothy Pastor said.
"The Maple Festival notified me on Saturday, so that helped to be able to plan the menu for this week and to know to get more food ordered in," she said.
However, a private party at her shop the evening of April 12 will have to be canceled, Pastor said.
The city of Chardon is 1.5 inches from tying its all-time March snowfall record of 41 inches, set back in 1960.
Brian Mitchell, of Cleveland's National Weather Service office, said the forecast for the next two weeks shows a continued trend of below-normal temperatures and above-average precipitation.
©The News-Herald 2008
Email to a friendPost a CommentPrinter-friendlyTop
Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement. Please read our Privacy Policy
©2007 News-Herald- a Journal Register Property. All Rights reserved.
Interested in a career with Journal Register Company? Click here.
Local Newspapers
News-Herald.com
MorningJournal.com
AllAroundCleveland.com
AllAroundCleveland.com is your local connection to newspaper websites in Ohio.