Published: September 15, 2007 10:51 pm         

Festival forecast includes fun

DANVILLE — Outdoor events can be hit-or-miss at this time of year, but Saturday would have to be described as a perfect early autumn day. If today’s weather forecast holds true, Vermilion County residents owe it to themselves to visit the final day of the Vermilion River Fall Festival in Ellsworth Park.

Long a staple of late September, the event underwent a metamorphosis along with a name change several years ago. Conservation booths and a river clean-up were added to the line-up of craft and food vendors.

Expanded entertainment this year included more live music, an antique car show, mud volleyball and a Guitar Hero contest.

Many young families were busy Saturday creating memories with their children. Several “firsts” took place in the middle of Ellsworth Park, the longtime home of the event.

Seth and Jessica Miller of Westville felt excited when they saw 5M Pony Rides, from Beecher City, at the festival. Their 5-month-old daughter, Ella, might not remember the experience, but her parents will.

Ella smiled and laughed as the Shetland pony she rode started to move. Then she reached down and first touched, then pulled, its mane.

“She does that to me, too” Jessica said as she held her tiny daughter upright on the saddle. Jessica sported a ponytail of her own.

“I think Mom’s having more fun than Ella,” Seth said.

Not far away, Bismarck’s Carsen White scaled the festival’s equivalent of a rock wall. This inflatable adventure was just one of the many attractions Hite Enterprises, from Moweaqua, provided for the event.

The blow up “mountain” looked like an inverted ice-cream cone studded with brightly-colored rectangular “stones.” Climbers used them as footholds as they made their way to the top. A harness kept them safe in case of a fall onto the inflatable base.

“Now where do I go?” Carsen asked once he made his way to the top. With a little encouragement from his family, he found his way down.

“Up was hard,” he said after he came off his first climb. “But when I got to the top and looked down, I didn’t know what to do.”

His mom, Mandi White, asked him if he was scared then. “Definitely,” Carsen said. “I was pretending there were sharks in the moat around me.”

Slightly older thrill-seekers tried their hand at tomahawk throwing. This year marks the fifth time the Illinois Tomahawk Association held a friendly competition at Danville’s fall festival.

Ben Knapp, president of the group, said they go to 8-10 festivals a year. Knapp said the group is always looking for new members.

It wasn’t long before people waited in line to try their hand at throwing. At $1 for the first 10 practice throws and then five more for a score, tomahawk throwing could be called a bargain.

One man might call it delayed gratification. Todd Williams of Perrysville, Ind. wanted to try the tomahawk throwing last year when he, his wife, Lani, and their now 3-year-old son, Timothy, came to the festival.

“I didn’t want him to try it then,” Lani said. “I was afraid he’d get hurt in front of the baby.”

Lani gave in this year and was happy she did. “He’s actually getting the hatchet to stick in the wood,” Lani said. “I’m so proud of him.”

Todd smiled as he showed off the three playing cards, mounted in the center of the tree stump targets, that he’d cut with the hatchet.

“This one’s braggin’ rights,” Knapp told the younger man. “You cut the ace almost all the way through.”

IF YOU GO

The Vermilion River Fall Festival continues from 11 a.m to 5 p.m. today at Ellsworth Park.