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Official Site - $1 for First Month. 2000 Locations. Instant Quotes. Amazing Chinese Weight Loss Secret. Seen On CNN, NBC, CBS & Fox News. After more than two decades heading up the annual Festival in the Park in Spearfish, Bob and Ardis Golay are stepping away and handing over the reins. The Golays have talked about being done for a few years now, and they did phase in a committee to learn the ropes and start picking up organizing efforts the past couple years. This year marked the 31st annual Festival in the Park – an event that will be in the hands of Kim Frey and Debbie Smoot next year. The Golays haven’t just handled the details of the weekend. They work year round sending out applications, receiving entry forms from vendors to be juried. And even in their travels, they’re always on the lookout for potential new crafters. He said they have learned over the years – and from attending large shows in other cities – that a show should have 30 to 35 percent new vendors each year. “I think we’ve done a good job maintaining balance,” he said. Other things to the Golays’ credit are the efforts that have been made to turn the arts and crafts show into a money-maker for the Spearfish Arts Center. From having been vendors themselves for a number of years before moving to Spearfish, and seeing how things worked at other shows, the Golays came up with ideas they modified and put to work in Spearfish – such as the Friday night event that offers early shopping for a fee, with proceeds going to the arts center. “And it was my idea early on that we expand the show and get more booths, and make it something that could help fund the arts center,” Bob said. The show was held the first time on Main Street, and after moving it to the park, it was still extremely casual. After the Golays took over the planning, they developed a traffic pattern to give the show some structure. They used wooden stakes in the ground to mark booth sites, and eventually worked up to metal markers that are in the ground year-round. About a week before the Festival, Bob heads to the park with his metal detector and a team of volunteers helps find the markers and cut the grass so the booth numbers are visible in preparation of set-up. After years of wrestling with power issues – especially food vendors who couldn’t keep power to everything that needed it – Golay went to the city council and asked for help. “We were living with primitive electricity. Luckily the city council members come down there and eat, so they could see the need for updated electricity,” Bob said. Ardis said they used to keep an employee from the power company on call during Festival weekend. But then city and arts center teamed up 50-50 and had electricity installed in the ground to the center of the park. “Upgrading the electricity took away a lot of Bob’s problems,” Ardis said. The beer garden is also a fundraiser for the arts center, and has been popular enough that the group has been able to purchase two large tents and bring in live entertainment for the weekend. He told a story about an item one year that had gallon-size glass jugs cut in thirds with wooden shelf layers in between – filled with anything from cotton balls and supplies to coffee grounds and other decorative things. Ardis shared another story – about a new vendor that wanted to sell cow hides. The Golays have had a lot of help from two of their daughters, Kim and Kelly, and more recently from a new son-in-law, Bill Deis. “We’ve kind of had our own little family committee,” Bob said. Kelly, who manages the convenience store at Exit 14, will continue to work with beer and pop distributors to supply the beer garden, but like their parents, the girls will be stepping down other than that. They surprised Bob and Ardis during this year’s Festival at the Saturday night vendor social, honoring them for their 27 years of dedication to the cause – complete with three 12-foot banners placed strategically around the park. In addition to vendors, city officials and business men and women have seen far-reaching effects of the Festival as well – from car dealers who say it’s their busiest weekend, to downtown businesses who draw bigger crowds, and hotels and restaurants as well. As for Festival 2009 and whether or not the Golays will be in attendance? “We’re turning it around and becoming vendors,” Ardis said. Bob has taken an interest in lapidary and working with sterling silver, so he works with rocks and castings creating pendants, and Ardis adds beadwork, and they make jewelry. “We’re going to be on the opposite side of the fence doing craft shows selling jewelry,” Bob said. The opinions above are from readers of lawrencecountyjournal.com and in no way represent the views of the Rapid City Journal or Lee Enterprises. This is cache, read story here
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