I attended the Hernando County Fine Arts Council annual "Arts in the Park", art festival over the weekend at Tom Varn Park. The festival turnout was good even though a few in the community were a little confused about the changing of the date. Previous festivals have taken place over Memorial Day weekend but the festival community decided last year it was just too hot to be enjoyable on that date. It rained late Saturday afternoon but thank goodness no one had their art projects damaged in the down pour. The rain held off on Sunday until the end of the day so everyone had the opportunity to leisurely visit the park.
The "Art in the Park" festival was put on by some very hard working volunteers in our community. These people worked for at least six months behind the scenes to be able to present this wonderful festival for our community, from lining up the exhibitors, to making sure the porta-potties were ready on opening day. The festival committee consisted of Linda Anderson, Kathleen Wilson, Patti Cotter, Lois Hall, Tony Covell, Mikel Hannnigan, Jan Knowles, MJ Russel and Lee Parent.
Besides the festival committee, many other people assisted in making this festival a success this year. The young adults of Navy JROTC from Central High School volunteered as parking assistants and the Scouts manned the Coke wagons, selling cold drinks to the thirsty crowds. Many retired, semi-retired, and just plain working folks donated a few hours over the weekend to help the festival committee. Each of these hard working volunteers worked to make this festival a success and really deserve "a big thanks" from all of us in the community!
