Swiss Festival
Swiss Festival 2010
This morning brought a heavy fog throughout the area. Temperatures dipped into the 30′s. We were up before the sun’s light could fall upon the dew covered grass. Morning routines were completed early and we were on the road to Sugarcreek by 8:00am. Our GPS navigator took us about 20 miles out of our way through small burgs and along county roads. Not quite sure what the thing was thinking but the drive was nice if not a little longer than it should have been.
We arrived in Sugarcreek and found the McDonalds. That is where I can get good Internet service. The Service in Roscoe Village proved to be too inferior to send yesterday’s post and photos. I was able to post the blog, upload 28 photos and get breakfast in about 45 minutes.
We drove around to find a good place to park while attending the festival. We decided on a lot, run my the local amateur radio club, that cost us just $5 and was right next to the, closed to traffic, downtown area.
Rose, Baxter and I walked around to get a feel for where things were scheduled to be and the times they were to take place. The streets were noticeably void of the masses of people you would expect at a festival such as this. Temporary benches, two deep, lined the two blocks which was closed to traffic. There were a few blankets reserving a place for folks who were maybe taking in the offerings the vendors had in the Art and Crafts tent. There was a lone performer on the main stage playing his guitar and singing modern gospel to an audience of at most ten people.
We found the Swiss singers and the alphorns would perform at noon. The stone throw was not to take place until 4:30pm. This would be prove to be too late for us. I can only put up with crowds for so long. Rose was able to shop the quilt store before the noon performance started. This allowed me to listen to the alphorn’s rehearse before their performance. These horns put out an amazing sound when played in harmony. Make sure to watch the short video below to get an idea of what I am talking about.
We scored a couple of very comfortable chairs near the downtown stage. They appeared to be provided for tired shoppers by the business they were in front of.
As the clock, in a tower nearby struck noon, the people began to take their seats and the sidewalk traffic picked up with folks heading to the line of fair food vendors along the side street. As I have experienced before, most of the people in attendance were not at the festival for the stage entertainment. This makes it hard for the folks who are. There was a midway with carnival type rides and an alley of about 1/4 mile of food vendors. It’s this that, now, a steady stream of people filling by us were headed for. We watched the Columbus Swiss singers and the alphorns perform a magnificent concert despite the annoying people.
Walking over to where the Steinstossen was to take place I hoped we might catch the contestants practicing. No luck. They were probably saving their strength. Lunch time had passed us so the apple fritter vendor made a quick sale. Remembering a pub with a beer garden was near, we walked a couple of blocks and was able to consume a couple of beers and a sandwich while watching the last part of the Ohio State/Illinois first half.
With the three of us tired of all the people, we decided to made the much shorter trip back to our camp for some rest and catch the rest of the game on the radio.
Don’t forget to catch the video of the alphorns.
Tomorrow will be a short walk into Roscoe Village for a more in depth tour of the shops. Maybe, without all the photos of the last post, I will be able to send this out in the morning from the somewhat inferior Internet connection. On that note, I will be writing on how to get by without the advantage of 3G cellular or convenient high speed Internet in the next few days.
Later
Robb
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