Published July 05, 2009 11:33 pm - The Conneaut Fourth of July Festival went out with a bang Sunday night as colorful explosions filled the air above Lake Erie, putting an exclamation point at the end of another successful community day, organizer Tom Udell said.
Festival again ends with a bang
By MARGIE TRAX PAGE - Staff Writer - mtrax@starbeacon.com Star Beacon
CONNEAUT — The Conneaut Fourth of July Festival went out with a bang Sunday night as colorful explosions filled the air above Lake Erie, putting an exclamation point at the end of another successful community day, organizer Tom Udell said.
“Today was a wonderful end to the four-day festival,” Udell said. “Thousands of people enjoyed the festival this year. We dodged the raindrops on Thursday and it was overcast on Friday, but the weather couldn’t have been better Saturday and Sunday. The turnout was phenomenal.”
Udell, who heads the festival committee with co-organizer Shelley Bailey, said the committee focuses on the most popular events and attractions at the holiday fair.
“The community looks forward to this every year,” Udell said. “They expect the festival to be something well-planned and well-thought out.”
“So we keep it simple, we keep good people behind the scenes and we give the people what they want,” he said.
Udell said the Conneaut Idol competition is growing every year in both contestants and audience.
“We had nine contestants this year,” Udell said. “I think people really thoroughly enjoy that the community has such talent.”
The festival is all about the amusement rides for the children and 5-year-old Lily Rose Vargo was no exception.
“I rode the merry-go-round and the cars,” Lily Rose said.
Mom Lana Vargo of Conneaut said the day off from work and her family’s interest in the rides and attractions caught her interest in the festival.
“This is the first time in a couple of years that we came out for the festival and see the fireworks,” she said.
Vargo said everyone enjoyed the day, including 16-month-old Lane, who loved the rides, too.
“He smiled and laughed the whole time he was on the merry-go-round,” she said.
Having tried the cars and the merry-go-round horses, Lily Rose is ready to commit to a mode of transportation and she is skipping her driver’s license.
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