Thing is this program had been organizing communities for a good while before Felicity got to step up and hold the event. So when it got to choose what part of the garden they were going to honor the pickens were slim as to choice. So Felicity took the Gourd and said we will make this work. The first years or two the Gourd Festival was held smack dab in the center of town. A good old fashioned block party. Even though the Businessmen really didn’t have a laid out plan how to do this they put their heads together and organized what turned out to be more than just a success. It became an event the community immediately looked forward to each year.
When the second year rolled around the festival had grown in size as to what it offered the people attending and their number coming to the festival increased noticeably and anticipation for the next year grew along with it. But the businessmen had realized that the festival had outgrown the streets of Felicity. After much meeting and lots of planning followed by many extra hours of work by all the members and volunteers Felicity had created a place to hold the Gourd and Harvest Festival. They converted the area of the school grounds that I always referred to as the old football field. With all this space they were able to create a Midway and a pretty good sized stage where the festival seemed to operate from. Across the Midway from the stage the Businessmen set up the food grills and served hot dogs and hamburgers and awesome pork tenderloin sandwiches. South of the stage was a section with rides for the children and the Midway was then lined with booths that sold crafts etc. One booth I do recall was a group of men that took pieces of wood and with a small chain saw carved sculptures out of the wood.(I tried it at home with my saw and some fire wood and all I got was fire wood that ended up with a lot of chin saw marks on it.)
With each year the number of booths increased and the schedule of events increased also. With this inventive and hard work came the crowds. I mean big crowds. The Friday, Saturday and Sunday afternoon after Labor Day was marked on most everyones’ calenders in southern Clermont and Brown Counties. If you were driving north on those days you had to know you were going the wrong way. The week before the festival the kids in school were in high anticipation of all the fun they planned to have! All kidding aside and no exaggeration here but Felicity went from the sleepy country town where the farmers were deep in housing their tobacco crops to a town so full of people it was safe to say the town was past its’ occupation limit so to speak. But I doubt one person would feel unwelcome.
Of course how could there be a festival without a parade for all to watch. Every organization in the community along with the local and a couple outside marching bands and the 4H and FFA lined up to wave to the spectators. If between noon and the end of the parade a fire or accident were to happen a problem would have happened for as far as I could tell every piece of fire and energy equipment was in that parade running their sirens as loud as they could. During that hour Felicity shinned brighter than the sun. Not only had they beautified the town but they had put it on the map and people from all over came to look and wonder just how did this happen. It happened because the Businessmen of Felicity and many, many volunteers put forth the effort for it to happen.
Along with the many events laid out to occupy the people such as the lip sync contest, the baby contest (both of my children came in second) the kids games on Sat afternoon including the “greased poll” to the one and only ‘Macs Rats”. That was only place I ever saw this game but it was worth it. For the crafty there was the quilt show in the gym displaying almost 100 quilts. I’m certain I am forgetting a lot but it is easy to see I hope that the festival was fun in so many ways that it was bound to have something for everybody.
To me I feel the main attraction was all the people gathering for a large part just to get to visit with friends and neighbors for a while on a nice early fall evening and catch up on a lot of visiting that hard working people have to leave to the side while work took their center stage. But for a couple days the time was there and the opportunity existed. So with a pop in one hand and a sandwich in the other entertainment coming from the stage while a cow bell rang and Macs’ Rats entertained we all could enjoy a night of fun in Felicity while the Businessmen kept all this around us seemingly going effortlessly! The festival has stopped but for anyone who ever attended its memory still brings back a big smile!
Rick Houser grew up on a farm near Moscow in Clermont County and loves to share stories about his youth and other topics. He may be reached at houser734@yahoo.com.