Feature Article August 12, 2004
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Verona Festival comes of age Nine years old and getting stronger every yearby Jeff Green
Nine years ago organizers of the Verona Festival were thrilled that their first festival came off at all, and each year after that, the festival has been developing new events and building up its own particular character.
By the time the 40 or so main organizers and the other 200 volunteers put this years festival together, they had a solid base to build on, as well as some fresh ideas from consultant Heidi Staddon. Those factors, combined with cool, dry weather, made for the best-attended, best-run Verona Festival this year.
The festival has become, finally, an event in peoples heads. It has become the place to go on this weekend, said Inie Platenius, the current President of the Verona Community Association, the umbrella group that puts on the festival.
On Saturday night, the place was packed by the time Shotgun took the stage, and there were no seats for Kelly Trottier on Sunday afternoon, but the Verona Festival is not a music Festival, it is a community festival. The ecumenical service on Sunday, run by Marilyn O
rser, and Louise Day, was the best weve ever had, and the historical tour put on by the Verona Heritage Society was so popular they had to lay on another one.
This year also featured an addition to the popular and highly entertaining Red-Green cardboard and duct tape races. Two dragon boats, built by a teacher from Prince Charles Public School, and powered by 7 or 8 students, glided elegantly through the calm waters of Verona Lake, both coming into shore at the same time. This was despite the observation by the MC that the dragon boats look marvellously unstable, and was much to the disappointment of the paddlers, who were hoping for a spectacular, sinking failure.
There were plenty of sinking failures earlier in the event. One boat in particular, which proved impossible to get into and eventually sank before reaching the end of the dock, was reportedly designed by an engineer.
Frank York, the race organizer, entered the pre-built boat competition in a boat he designed himself. Paddling with a two-ended Kayak paddle, which led to charges of cheating by members of his own family, York seemed more interested in splashing the only other boat in the competition.
York also designed and built a dry land cardboard construction, a maze that proved popular with many of the children who were on hand.
Another innovation this year was the appearance of Cameron the bog lemming, the festival mascot who had only existed as a rumour for the past couple of years. Cameron made three appearances on stage on the weekend, accompanied by an original song written by Bill Kendell.
Last year, the Festival received a three-year Trillium grant, which is being used to make one-time purchases of items they would never be able to afford otherwise, such as banners and signs. The grant has also been used to hire Heidi Staddon, who is involved with the Downtown Business Improvement Association.
Staddon attended all three days of the Festival last year, and presented a report on areas that needed improvement.
Her report was so well thought out that we were happy to hire her to work with us throughout the year to help us tweak the festival, and it worked out really well, Inie Platenius said.
John MacDougall has been the event co-ordinator for the Verona Festival for many years, and one of his major accomplishments has been in building up a strong corps of volunteers of all ages to run the festival. The festival committee will meet in early September, to begin work on what is sure to be a spectacular 10th anniversary Verona Festival next year.
