Why this years cornfest lacked

I am not sure where to begin. but here it goes. I have lived in Ortonville all but 3 years of my life I am 27 now and I have loved cornfest every year up until the last few, I believe this years corn fest was the worst as far as events and things to do, when I was younger I remember there being things such as, three legged races, gunny sack races, Local bands, Magicians, etc I mean there was so much going on all over town I never knew if my bike would get me where I wanted to be on time. Now I am searching for things to do. And then I totally disagree with closing the park down at 6 for a concert. Why not either place the concert somewhere else in town ex.. Central park or airport and leave the park open or just leave it open becuase there are people who may not like country music or whatever type of music you have at that time and if thats the case they cant even enjoy cornfest in the park. So please chamber take time and consider all of the options for everyone.

I totally agree with the above post, I was just commenting this weekend that if I was a vendor who came to town and had to pay to display my booth in the park, I would not be very happy when Friday and Saturday evenings the park is closed down and there are no customers to view my booth. Also true about the music, a lot of people might not care for that type of music, and what about families with small children? While the concert is going on at the foot of the lake, the park could still be open with activities for families such as mentioned above (magicians, games, local music, etc.). Seems to me like the Chamber wants to monopolize the beer and food sales during the concert...

Are We Self Endulging?

For many years entertainment is geared towards the adults and not our children. We have enormous expenditures for adult entertainment and have precious little for families with children. This is an area we need to work on. For instance, a swimming pool, like Watertowns with slides, baseball fields and the bicycle path could be a step in the right direction.

I personally think we need an entirely new direction with creativity. The Corn-fest was a great event when we had a canning plant. Now we need to ask ourselves is this really part of the community.

There are now two problems. The event is so late in the year other communities in the area are more concerned with school then a festival. It is also the worst time of year for the lake.

The events bring hundreds of people home to see the lake at its worst. Some years it actually stinks. What about something different? Let's work together in making a change.

I have to say I agree partially to what you say, I dont think we should change the date to much it is kind of a reminder that school is right around the cornter. mabey they should send out a survey and find out what people want to see at the cornfest.

I too have lived in Ortonville all my life and generally participate in the annual events.

This year the weather was unbearable and I did not partake of the events. I don't think changing the date is the answer or the key here. Many of us view this FEST as the time we see old classmates and those that have their school reunions. The Alumni Association has their annual meeting at that time to encourage participation and conduct business.

I agree asking the community what sort of activities do people what to see is an excellent idea. I didn't know they closed the park early -- I agree with the comments, that really hurts the business for the vendors and some may decide NOT to come next year. I wouldn't blame them. I wonder if the Chamber asks vendors for their opinions about how they felt it went? Did they feel they paid too much for a site? Will they come back next year?

The Chamber could put a survey on their website and ask for comments, concerns, suggestions. They could also put an 'ad' in the paper asking for comments from the community. The CornFest should reflect the ideas and suggestions of those who participate.

nascargirl

First of all, I would like to say thank you to each and every person that stepped up to help with the Cornfest activities. I remember seeing ads int eh paper announcing Cornfest planning meetings, where it was open to everyone who wanted to be a part of the planning process, to join if they wanted to. Putting on a festival of this type is very hard work.
I recently helped throw together a Family Fun Day, as a fundraiser for the Park Trailhead project. Even thought the turnout was not what we had hoped for, it certainly was exactly what we wanted for the kids and the community to come together for a relaxing day at Lakeside Park.
The time of year needs to stay the same for many reasons. I do feel as if we could just cancel the opening acts to the concerts, so that the park would not have to be shut down early. Let the main concert run from 9-1, and then the kids, and families that want to enjoy the park and visit the vendor booths could do so all the way up until 8:30 at night.
There are many activities that can be planned for kids, and families that do not take a huge investment, but do take volunteers and time. So... speaking for myself, I will attend the meeting next year to get more involved and help organize more events for the kids, and I encourage all of you to do the same.
Again, thank you Chamber for your efforts, not the best year for Cornfest, but we learn from our mistakes and here is to a great Cornfest 2011.

I keep hearing that the time of the year needs to be the same. Why? We are not promoting the lake by having a major events when the lake is stinky and weedy.

Unless we move the event to another park away from the lake. I come from lake country and dog days are not the time of year we should promote the lake.

I like the constructive criticisms on this thread.

I personally think we are afraid to change.

Well first of all, I don't think that it matters that we don't have a canning plant here any long, that's not the issue, Corn Fest has been part of this community for 72 years, the problem lies in poor planning, lack of funding, lack of interest, and just maybe pure laziness, and I believe that the heart of that truth is that the citizens of this community don't want to get involved with planning for fear that there ideas will be shut down the minute they open their mouths. I whole heartedly agree that closing the Park during a very Poor concert is just plain selfish and greedy, there are people who have to work all day and can't enjoy the events/vendors/park at night because it's closed, due to the lack of greed, whether that has to do with them trying to raise money for the concert or not, they could still do both, there were plenty of people walking around the park looking for food/drinks/entertainment, that I don't think it would have put a dent in the revenue at all. I also don't agree that there should be a different time of year, Nor should we worry about the lake as there really is no good time, it's ALWAYS full of weeds and STINKS to high heaven anyway, (due to whatever, lack of cleaning, lack of money to clean it, what have you) or a different event, we just need to get back to the basics and remember what used to be, yes, life changes, but there still needs to be more family oriented events, such as more games for the little kids, there used to be a carnival, all sorts of stuff to do, there is NOTHING for them to do now, oh I take that back, there were a couple of games where the kids got a prize everytime (of used dirty toys, and tubes of caulking), we need to be more concious of the families that plan this a year in advance, and make it more of a fun event, I have to say, when Eclipse was here, was the BEST Cornfest I have seen in years, and Yes I also grew up in this community, and have nary missed one, but it's getting to the point that it's not even worth it any more, for goodness sake there isn't even a band in a parade, if that isn't the heart of the parade I don't know what is....Why don't we pull together as a community and bring back what used to be instead of trying to turn it into an even like the BSC Fair (FLOP) like no other, and that's essentially what is going to happen if we keep going down the path that we are idiotic to have it down at the Park...totally rediculous. Lets pull together and "Bring IT Back" !!!

It is interesting reading the comments above. If one could sit back and look objectively at the entire event you could get another perspective. One of the many benefits of this website is the sharing of ideas. We can learn things. One thing that was brought up by both Jolie and Mouthpiece some time ago was the importance of spending money locally. How having many small farms each coming to town and spending their money. Money circulates in a community and that helps keep a town prosperous.

Has anyone given a thought to how much money Ortonville loses with Cornfest? Think about it.

I understand that last year the Chamber spent a hefty sum of money (it was in the thousands) just to RENT a generator. Then you have to pay the band. ($5,000.00? $10,000.00?) On the one hand you have the Chamber mouthing that the public should shop locally. Then they drop 10's of thousands of dollars outside the community. Why? Just to pay for a party?

Then we have the vendors. Don't get me wrong. I am for free enterprise, but how many of those vendors are local? Are they members of the Chamber? How much money is being spent by the local public to these outside vendors. That is money that is leaving the community. It is a financial loss to the community.

Then there are the Chamber members. While the Chamber bosses are down at the park, sitting in their beer garden, promoting the out of town vendors the local stores are up on main street losing business. I wonder how long before the local businesses will start to get the hint that the Big Stone Lake Area Chamber is all about the board. The board is the one who benefits. It is all about what they want and the people be .........! It can't last forever. If they keep draining money out of town, the town will suffer.

I can agree that a local festival is a good thing for a community. One should question how it is being run. How much money the Chamber is sucking out of the town to pay for their private party. Some new ideas would be beneficial....but not likely welcome. Otowngirl hit the nail on the head Angdoren. You see a great lack of involvement by many people in the community because they have been there before and know that they are not welcome. Oh, sure, you get lip service but when push comes to shove some people have no problem tossing anyone in the way under the bus. Perhaps some people in Ortonville are tired of beating their heads against the wall and don't cotton to being abused. Many have given up and just keep their distance. That's to bad because all it takes for evil to succeed is for good people to do nothing.

There is one thing about the Cornfest that has always puzzled me. Perhaps I don't have all the information, but I always found it strange that the Chamber has a fundraiser breakfast on the same day that the Airport has a fundraiser breakfast, and they hire a business outside of town to make the product. Why not have one on Saturday morning and the other on Sunday morning? The Airport has their Airshow on Saturday morning so it makes sense that their fundraiser would also be on Saturday morning. If the chamber has their fundraiser on Sunday morning, even if it is pancakes so they can capture the money they spend hiring Dad's (don't get me wrong. His waffles are great!) they wouldn't have to compete with the crowd up at the airport and perhaps make more money. It seems like an absolute no-brainer, but perhaps I don't have all the information. Could someone please set me straight?