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Weather deters some, not all, during Chocolate Festival
Sunday, April 15, 2007 9:15 PM EDT
"I'm amazed at the loyalty of the people who keep coming back here, even in this late winter weather," said Maysville Mayor David Cartmell, who was at the festival Sunday afternoon. "That's the mark of an established festival."
The festival was started 20 years ago, according to information provided by Phyllis Helphenstine, a shop owner in Old Washington who first suggested the chocolate festival.
"People love chocolate," Helphenstine said in an earlier interview. "It has been a wonderful festival for us."
The festival has always had wide-spread appeal. It has been listed as one of the top 10 festivals in the state.
Among the attractions of the festival were the Miss and Mr. Chocolate Festival Pageant, live entertainment, horse-drawn carriage rides, a pony cart and pig train ride, chocolate candy hunts and games for children, as well as that incredibly popular item for which the festival is named. Inside the shops and in the booths set up during the festival, a variety of chocolate items were sold, and the annual chocolate fudge contest was held as well.
According to information from Old Washington's Web site, last year's event was attended by people from as far away as England, Germany, Japan, Australia and the Netherlands, as well as 101 towns in Kentucky, 60 towns in Ohio, and a number of towns from states ranging from Michigan to Texas.
Among the crowd this year was Joyce Kuntz of Clermont County, Ohio, who said she had never attended the festival before but saw it advertised in the newspaper and though it might be worth attending.
"We love the antique shops," Kuntz said. "We come out for that as much as the candy."
New vendors this year included Denise Scaringi and Judy Brothers, who set up a booth featuring items from their shop, Lavender Hills of Kentucky.
As a relatively new business, Scaringi said the two were trying to come to as many local festivals as possible. Their business is located about 20 miles West of Maysville in Brooksville.
Scaringi explained they used to be tobacco growers, but decided to stop farming tobacco and instead switched to lavender. With a little research, they discovered a number of products for which lavender could be used. They decided to set up a shop located on their farm.
Among the items they brought to the festival were lavendar-scented key chains, pillows, culinary lavendar and chocolate fudge, flavored with lavender.
The festival also brought the return of Maysville native Artis Greene, one of the Renfro Valley Stars performing at the festival.
Greene left Maysville about 15 years ago, but returns on occasion to visit family and friends. He said he took part in the Simon Kenton Festival previously, and was invited to be part of the Chocolate Festival.
Though it was cold, it was not raining on Sunday, a positive for Greene. And, as he noted, "it's always good to come home."
Contact Misty Maynard at 606-564-9091, ext. 274.
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