Kids enjoyed running through the hay maze.
People brought their appetites to the Fall Festival. By 2 o’clock The Pickle Guy had sold out. An hour later, Paisan Wheels Mobile Pizza was done for the day. “Next year we’re going to bring more,” the owner promised. “We sold 800 slices in the first four hours.”
All that pizza must have made people thirsty. The lemonade stand doubled its business from the previous year, and was in danger of running out of straws.
Food and beverage sales were a good barometer of the day’s success. Rich Massimi, the president of the Greater Cornwall Chamber of Commerce, toured the fair from the circle to Hazen Street and got positive reports from the vendors. “I think it’s a home run,” he said late in the afternoon.
Republican and Democratic candidates worked at booths at opposite ends of the fair. Sen. Bill Larkin and Assemblyman James Skoufis aren’t on the ballot this year, but they both included the festival in their afternoon itineraries. Supervisor Randy Clark was stationed in front of his office at the corner of Main and Bridge Streets. The sign over his tent was a take off on the Peanuts comic strip. The sign read “Psychiatric help 5 cents.” Underneath it was a smaller message, “The supervisor is in.”
Besides food sales, another barometer of the day’s success was the influx of vehicles. Motorists who drove into the Quaker Avenue mall, had to circle around the lot till they found a parking space.
Pastor Stephen Racite of the Cornwall Baptist Church said a few of his parishioners had to maneuver around to get to the 9:45 a.m. service in time. The Cornwall Presbyterian Church (in Cornwall-on-Hudson) sent an e-mail to its members on Friday afternoon, reminding them to find an alternate route around Main Street.
At the end of the day, Mr. Massimi stood at the Bridge Street bandstand and announced the winners of the raffles. Guillermo Grandos won $500 in cash. Danielle August won free meals at several local restaurants. And Ann Smith got the biggest prize, known as the “Best of Cornwall.” She received $1,500 worth of gift certicates from nearby stores. Like so many other fair-goers and vendors, she went home happy.