Festival Still On, Shortened to 2 Days

By Sue Moning, Xenia Daily Gazette Staff Writer

Old Fashioned Days will be held only two days this year, and the traditional parade has become a thing of the past.

Jeff Eyrich, Old Fashioned Days chairman, made the announcement during a meeting Tuesday evening at the Xenia Area Chamber of Commerce. The meeting was called to address an urgent need for volunteers and to gather suggestions to keep the Xenia festival a reality.

Eyrich said he had told Alan Liming, president of the chamber, that "there was no way we could make this happen" given funding and staffing concerns. Liming asked him to reconsider, so the plea was made for interested people to attend the meeting.

About 18 citizens and business people answered the call, hearing about the changes planned for the 2010 event, scheduled for Sept. 18-19. Eyrich said he was pleased with the turnout, but attendees stressed the effort had to include more people.

"Talk is cheap," Liming said, noting he has heard a lot of suggestions but they needed to be backed up with workers. In recent years, city officials have spent more than $40,000 for the festival, with the Old Fashioned Days committee adding another $40,000, he said.

The committee now has about $13,000 to fund the 2010 festival, Eyrich said.

"Old Fashioned Days relied on the commitment of our local businesses for sponsorships in the past," Eyrich said. Those donations have dwindled, but vendor interest has not, he added. "We still have a lot of people who want to be in the festival," he added.

The Balloon Glo featuring hot-air balloons is still planned, as are Field Day games and rides for children, he said.

Suggestions to move the festival back to the downtown from Shawnee Park are not feasible because of traffic flow and utility service issues, he said. Other suggestions to be considered are boosting efforts to schedule local entertainment, including bands, to help showcase area talent and cut costs, creating competitive events with the festival paddle boats, and concentrating the festival in a smaller area of the park, Eyrich said.

Canceling the festival, even for one year, will mean the end of the Xenia tradition, said area resident Dan Bullen.

"If it doesn’t happen this year, it will never happen again," Bullen said.

Volunteers are needed for every facet of the festival, including the Balloon Glo and Field Day events, entertainment, food vendors, parking, rides, security, publicity and fund-raising, utilities, vendor and craft booths and the information booth.

Another meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday, June 8, at the chamber offices.