By LEIGH C. MERRIFIELD
News & Journal Editor

While many vendor canopies were staged in the parking lot behind the Museum, others were lined down lower Bridge Street. Many of the vendors came prepared – with hooded coats and blankets – and one gentleman brought a heater to use if necessary, realizing that Spring often springs the unexpected on us when it comes to the weather!
While many vendor canopies were staged in the parking lot behind the Museum, others were lined down lower Bridge Street. Many of the vendors came prepared – with hooded coats and blankets – and one gentleman brought a heater to use if necessary, realizing that Spring often springs the unexpected on us when it comes to the weather!

Despite the weather, there was a lot of street and foot traffic in Shinnston on Saturday for the city’s annual Arts & Craft Festival. Although some afternoon/evening rain was predicted, no one was expecting the sleet that appeared for a while during the setup hours.

“Unfortunately, that is a chance you take when planning an outdoor event in the spring,” said Community Development Director Reuben Perdue. “Although it was a little chilly, the sleet didn’t last long. There were only a couple of vendors who failed to show up – probably for weather-related reasons. And a few vendors left early due to the early arrival of the drizzle. They may perhaps have given up too soon because other vendors did well, and according to the store owners in our community, people also visited their shops and they experienced a good day.”
St. Ann’s Catholic Church had several tables set up under a large canopy to sell homemade baked goods and frittis, the profits of which were to go to their Relay for Life contribution. Their baked goods sold out completely and they were more than pleased!
Perdue continued, “Several times we have now experienced poor weather for this festival, but we’ll continue to keep trying in the future. Had we planned our festival for the week before, it would have been a beautiful day! It’s just one of those things that happens when you plan something that far in advance. The same thing could happen with Frontier Days or any activity that we schedule for that matter.”
Perdue said he had checked all week long with multiple weather forecasts, and it looked like showers would not hit the area until late afternoon.
“But,” he concluded, “our vendors pay such a nominal fee for the space they occupy, if they sold at least an item or two, they recovered their cost.”

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