Weather was picture perfect
ARTS INTHE PARK
Thousands of people parked around Gregory Park in Brainerd Sunday for the 35th annual Arts in the Park festival.
Back
There was something for everyone at the festival - music, food, arts and crafts and even free posture screening. The Society for Creative Anachronism put on demonstrations in medieval fighting, craft work and food. The Century of Cars show featured classic cars. And kids got to take their turns jumping in inflatable bounce houses.
Artist Victor Jon Faith of Blue Earth painted a scene of Arts in the Park while at his booth Sunday. Thousands attended the final event in the busy Fourth of July calendar.
Brainerd Dispatch/Kelly Humphrey
» Purchase reprints of this photo.
Nancy Cross, director of Brainerd Community Action, which puts on the festival, said it appeared to be a record crowd Sunday.
The weather - sunny skies, a gentle breeze and temps in mid to upper 70s - certainly didn't hurt, she said.
"Of course, the weather is major," Nancy Cross said. "You can't have anything better than this."
There were 130 artists at the festival, a total that was down from year's past, Nancy Cross said.
Arnie Leckband polished his 1964 Chevy El Camino at the 11th annual Century of Cars Show Sunday at Gregory Park. Leckband and his El Camino won Best of Show while Dwight Eggert won People's Choice with his 1957 Ford Thunderbird. The show is sponsored by the Brainerd Dispatch.
Brainerd Dispatch/Kelly Humphrey
» Purchase reprints of this photo.
Ted Nienow of Bagley, owner of Wood Wildflowers, figured it was his 25th year selling his wooden floral arrangements at the festival. While he doesn't take part in a lot of festivals or craft fairs - he sells wholesale to art galleries throughout the world - Nienow doesn't miss out on Arts in the Park.
"This is always a nice show," Nienow said. "I've always liked this park. The people are nice and I've done a lot of business over the years."
On Sunday afternoon, business was a little slow, Nienow said, but he doesn't attend with expectations of large sales. If anything, the festival serves as a good test for his new products before he sells them to wholesalers.
"It always ends up fine. Once you've been doing it this long, you don't expect much," Nienow said. "Anyway, I can't complain on any day. Just being alive makes it a good day."
Mike Turner, "The Banjo Man," was among the musicians featured at Arts in the Park. Turner entertained the crowd by playing a guitar, banjo, flat top guitar, dobro steel guitar, autoharp, mandolin and fiddle during his set.
"This is the perfect set up here for people to enjoy some pickin'," Turner said. "I applaud anybody that will go through effort of providing live entertainment anymore."
Nancy Cross' daughter, Caitlin Cross, took over organizer duties from her mother for this year's event. Though a daunting task, especially falling the day after the Fourth of July celebrations, Caitlin Cross said everything worked smoothly.
"I'm not going to lie. I was a little bit nervous about it but it went very well and we didn't have too many bumps in the road," Caitlin Cross said.
Best of Show went to Greg Rosenberg of Brainerd, who sculpted a copper lamp featuring stained glass. Other winners were Thomas Fack of St. Louis Park for sculpture, Emily Koehler of St. Paul for flat art, Pamela Smith of Excelsior for jewelry, Sandra Fynboh of Akelely for glass, Lesli Martin of Finlayson for pottery, Joseph Jansen of Sartell for youth, Tom Larson of Brainerd for wood work, Deb Walker of Brainerd for naturals, Doug Ohman of New Hope for photography and Kathy Nelton of Saroma, Wis., for textiles.
MATT ERICKSON may be reached at matt.erickson@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5857.