SR Village Fest brings community members of all ages together
SLIPPERY ROCK — The residents that filled up downtown Slippery Rock from Cooper Street to Franklin Street Saturday, Sept. 12, included college students, young parents with babies in strollers and longtime elderly residents taking in Village Fest as Summer winds down.
A common theme at Saturday’s Village Fest: community supporting one another.
Residents and businesses with tents trying to sell goods, knickknacks, food, artwork and other items lined Main Street to show their neighbors the hard work they put into their small businesses.
“I try to go to a couple events a year like this. This is my fourth year at Village Fest. I really like coming back here every year,” said Julia Good. She sells stained glass art, such as jewelry and mosaics.
“It’s a good crowd. Coming back here year after year, I feel like I have a good knowledge of what people like. You get a lot of repeat visitors year-to-year, too,” Good added.
The exposure is important for small businesses and artisans, vendors said.
“It’s very important. I started growing these, and it evolved into crafting. I started a yard sale a long time ago, and it grew into this,” said Steve Miller, a Grove City resident. Miller makes crafts out of Gords.
“I use paint, stain, dye them, I use various colors. The pumpkins are probably the most popular this time of year. The mushrooms are very popular. I sell Christmas stuff too.”
At Village Fest, all sorts of facets of life were on display.
A raffle to support Slippery Rock Area High School’s boys varsity and junior varsity soccer teams saw a long line at one point.
Festivalgoers lined up for businesses like Rooser’s Coffee and North Country Brewing Company, while others grilled food and made cotton candy for those stopping by their tables.
Meanwhile, Election Day two months from now loomed. Local Republicans, Democrats and Libertarians manned their own tents to spread their message and hand out campaign material.
A day after Sept. 11 — and with Veterans Day one of the next major holidays — members of the American Legion and VFW posts presented a military attire and equipment display while trying to spread awareness in the community of the legion’s mission and work, plus bolster membership.
“The legion and the VFW do a lot to help the community. There’s a lot of programs that we have,” said John Baker, a member of the American Legion. “We’ve got quite a few things that have happened that we always have to remember, but we should remember veterans, too. Yesterday was 9/11, so we should remember 9/11. It was also one of the catalysts for Iraq. We have Veterans Day in two months, too. It’s about remembrance of all our veterans.
“We’ve had quite a few people come by, and they look and ask questions,” he added.
