To the editor: Chester Rotary grateful to all who helped with successful Fall Festival

This year’s Chester Fall Festival  — held on Sept. 21 and 22 — marked the 45th year of the town’s traditional, signature autumnal event.

Sponsored by the Rotary Club of Chester, the festival is a major fundraiser for the organization’s community programs, such as scholarships. The Rotary Club of Chester would like to extend our deepest gratitude to the people and organizations that made the continuing success of the festival possible.

The Town of Chester graciously increased its involvement with the event this year, handling such logistics as a phenomenal upgrade to The Green’s public WiFi, portable toilets and dumpster rental. Their preparations for the festival also resulted in a new, permanent wheelchair-accessible ramp on the east side of the Green. Special thanks to Chester Town Manager David Pisha, Executive Assistant Julie Hance and Highway Foreman Kirby Putnam.

Cathy Hasbrouck impeccably managed all marketing-related tasks for the festival, a massive and detail-intensive task whose importance cannot be overstated. Thank you, Cathy!

Our thanks to The Chester Telegraph for their ongoing generous addition to our fundraising efforts by donating 20 percent of festival advertising proceeds.

Jeannie Wade organized all of the entertainment acts for the event. Matt Wade managed parking and tirelessly helped with other event logistics. Thank you both!

Several individuals and organizations provided essential logistical support on the days of the festival. Thanks to The Current for transportation services; Bill Cole, for overnight security during the event; The Fullerton Inn, for help of too many kinds to enumerate here.

Thanks to Evan Parks, sound-system genius and all-around helpful human being, for assisting with entertainment support and many other event tasks.

Lee Gustafson, Jon Clark and Mike Bennet assisted Matt Wade with both vendor and attendee parking — thank you! Thanks also to our many other community volunteers, including Joan Grossman, Polly Montgomery and Miriam MacDonald.

Thanks to Pamela Spurlock, Interact coordinator at GMUHS, for tackling the task of coordinating student volunteers at the festival.

Rotary of Chester raises funds yearly through its tradition of selling dozens of varieties of homemade soups at the festival. We thank the following individuals and organizations for their generous (and tasty!) soup donations: Fullerton Inn, Country Girl Diner; Killarney; Route 103 Auto; Heritage Deli & Bakery; Erica Smith; Lisai’s Market; Malcolm and Ann Summers; The Free Range; Nancy and Stephen Davis; Lynn Russell; Gail Stewart; Inn Victoria; Tunjung and Pamela Spurlock.

Finally, our deepest gratitude to Nancy Davis, Nancy Rugg and Steven Davis for their years of tireless leadership, unwavering support and patience.

Sincerely,

Lyza Gardner
on behalf of the Fall Festival Committee
of the Rotary Club of Chester