Committee continues preparations for Athens Street Festival
The Daily Mail, online
April 27, 2009

ATHENS - The Athens Street Festival Committee is entering its final months of preparation for the event, which Committee Chairman Herbert Blasewitz says draws visitors from across the country.

Blasewitz and Committee Treasurer Patty Whiteman briefed the Athens Town Council and the Village Board this week on their progress.

“We are promoting Athens in a positive light,” Blasewitz told the Town Council recently.

The annual festival will be held Saturday, July 11 this year.

One highlight of the festival is the hour-long fireworks display staged by Youngs Explosives. The $8,000 bill for the showing has been sponsored by the Athens Community Foundation.

The committee raises money for the festival beginning in January. To date, it has a balance of $24,000, according to Blasewitz, who added that a number of bills still need to be paid.

Blasewitz said the committee has already sold 75 advertisements for the informational booklet festival-goers can take home, and has room for more. Blasewitz explained that last year a record-setting 178 vendors participated in the festival. Each spot costs between $40 and $200, although non-profit organizations are exempt from the fees. All businesses in the immediate area of the festival will receive a free spot outside their businesses.

The Hudson-Athens Lighthouse Preservation Society will host guided tours of the lighthouse. The proceeds of the tours will go to the society, not the festival, he said.

Other attractions will include a parade, various carnival rides and demonstrations from woodworkers as well as from area dance and martial arts schools.

“We are trying to support our local businesses as much as we can,” he said.

The Greene County Cruisers Car Club hopes to host an automobile show at the Rivertown Senior Center, on Second Street.

A ventriloquist, a magician and a stilts-walker will perform throughout the day and 15 musical acts, including blues, country and rock bands, are scheduled to perform beginning July 10.

Golf carts will again be available for ferrying people to different locations in the festival as well as to their cars.

Whiteman told the board that the logo for this year’s festival has been changed from the village of Athens logo to one featuring fireworks. She said the change came about as a way to celebrate the festival’s 35th year as well as the quadricentennial of Henry Hudson’s sail to Albany.

She reminded the board that although numerous vendors will be open and patrons can purchase t-shirts and other mementos, there is no festival entrance fee and visitors can enjoy the day without spending any money.

“They can have a really fun family day,” she said.

The pair presented a similar report to the Village Board. Blasewitz thanked the board for nominating the committee for the Ellen Rettus Planning Award from Greene County, which it won this past year.

For more information on the Athens Street Festival, to volunteer or to become a vendor or patron, visit www.athensstreetfestival.com.